Who'd Have Known (7 Nights At Jack's)
by gingerbread-iplier
Summary: Jacksepticeye may look like an amazingly happy ball of energy on YouTube, but Sean McLoughlin has his own life outside the internet. One day, Loki, god of Mischief, accidently appears in his house. He has to stay for a week to refresh. What's Jack to do now that Mark (Markiplier), Felix (Pewdiepie), and Loki are at his house? Septiplier, abuse. RP.
1. Day 1

**This is another RP that I did with imclearlythebetterpilot! Seriously, best Loki roleplayer ever. Anyways, this is a YouTube/Loki story. There is Jacksepticeye, Markiplier, and Pewdiepie. Please, give it a chance. It's actually pretty awesome.**

**Anyways, this spans 1 week. I was torn between Who'd Have Known and 7 Nights At Jack's for the titles. Yep.**

**Jacksepticeye may look like a happy ball of energy on YouTube, but Sean McLoughlin has his own life outside of YouTube. One day, Loki, god of Mischief, accidently appears in his house. He has to stay for a week to refresh. What's Jack to do now that Mark, Felix, and Loki are at his house, where all of the people in his town don't like him?**

**"**And I'll see all you dudes, IN THE NEXT VIDEO!" Jack finished the newest video and turned off the computer. "4 million subscribers. Woah." Suddenly he heard a sound from downstairs. His eyes widened and he jumped up from his chair.

Loki let out a soft groan as he pushed himself off the floor, rubbing his head and wondering how in Hel he had managed to find himself here… where ever 'here' was, anyway. It certainly wasn't where he had been aiming, nowhere close.

Jack quickly grabbed the first thing off his desk. "Hello?! I have a…" He looked down and grimaced. "A mouse and I'm not afraid to use it!"

Jack tried to bring the mouse with him to where he was sure he heard the intruder, but gave a shriek instead as he was jerked back and some things off his desk clattered onto the floor.

"… inserted inside my computer. Right."

Loki's eyes narrowed as he heard things fall on the upper floor. Curious, he made his way to the next floor to see who exactly he had frightened.

Jack froze as he started to hear someone walk up the stairs. "Oh man, this is just like the game I was playing. That is not good. That is not nice!"

He quickly jumped behind his spinning chair and grabbed the plush Septiceye Sam off the floor, ready to throw it at whoever (or whatever) came through his door. "Why do I not have my cell phone? Why did I leave it in the kitchen?!" He hissed to himself.

Loki pushed the door open, walking into the room and casually looking around. When his eyes landed on the man crouched behind a chair and holding a stuffed toy as though it was a weapon, he couldn't help the small, slightly amused smirk making its way onto his lips.

"Well, that is an interesting choice of weaponry you've picked." He mused, crossing his arms over his chest as he stood near the doorway.

Jack frowned and threw the plush. It hit Loki squarely in the chest (well, arms) and he tried to pick up the office chair he was hiding behind. "What are you doing in my house? I just moved here!"

He slipped suddenly and went sprawling, the wheels of his chair rolling forward and the chair toppling over. "Ow!" He cried, trying and failing to stand. His hat was hanging precariously on his head, about to fall off onto the floor.

"You are not quite the picture of grace, are you?" Loki asked with a chuckle, now thoroughly amused with the situation at hand. "I haven't any idea how I ended up here, but now I find myself stuck. Where exactly is 'here', if I might ask? Besides your home, of course."

Jack crawled back a little to sit criss cross applesauce on the floor. "Well, you're in Ireland." Jack took his hat off and put it on his knee. "What do you mean you have no idea how you got here?"

He looked Loki up and down. "You seem a little familiar…" He squinted his eyes at Loki.

"I _mean_, I didn't mean to land here." He replied with a little, exasperated-sounding sigh. "Far from it, but now I find myself trapped here, in Ireland, for I haven't the energy to attempt to go anywhere else."

Jack seemed to automatically forget Loki's familiarity and leaned back. "Oh, so you're magic! That's actually really cool!"

He looked Loki up and down again before beckoning for the magic intruder to sit across from him on the floor.

The trickster raised a curious eyebrow at the man's gesturing for him to sit, but he did anyway.

"Yes, I am." He confirmed with a nod, folding his hands together and placing them in his lap. "However, I fear I may be stuck here for a week at the very least. The teleportation drained a great deal of my energy, and I must spend time regaining that."

Jack's smile became nervous. "A week…?" He reached over for the calendar that had fallen off his desk and searched the week.

"Well, I guess you could stay, I'm not going to force you to leave while you're trying to get your strength back. I do have a few things to do, but you can come with me?" Jack asked.

"Very well. My name is Loki, by the way." The god offered, figuring it would only be fair to tell him, if he was going to stay there for the next week.

Jack leaned back. "That sounds like a cool name. I just need to fix the newest video I had been making and upload it. If you're hungry, I can make you some food after?"

"That would be lovely." Loki gave a small nod. "Though, before you go to any sort of work, I must ask; what is your name?"

Jack froze, then face palmed. "Can't believe I forgot to introduce myself, I do it every day, twice a day. My real name is Sean but everyone calls me Jack because of a YouTube channel I have called Jacksepticeye."

Jack stood from the floor and stooped to pick up the items that had fallen off his desk and his chair.

"Well, it is a pleasure to meet you, Sean. Or, Jack? Which do you prefer?" He asked, slightly confused.

"Oh, just call me Jack." Jack picked up the chair and put it in the right spot before sitting and starting to fix the video he had made, cut out some parts, and put in the ending song.

"Where were you trying to go?" He asked, not looking up from his computer.

"Somewhere very far from here." Loki replied evasively, picking dirt out from under his fingernails.

Jack pressed the render button and turned. "Well, that's not vague. What do you want to eat? I just need to wait for the video to render before I upload it."

"Ah…" He thought for a moment, his face scrunching up a bit. "What kind of fruit do you have?"

Jack thought a moment, before beckoning Loki to follow him down the stairs and too the kitchen. Jack ran down without looking back to see if Loki was following and took out a fruit platter of melons, pineapples, and berries from his fridge in record time.

He slapped it down against the island counter and dashed to the corner of his regular counter to find his bananas, oranges, and apples. He was intent on finding all the fruit in his house for Loki to pick from.

Loki followed the man downstairs, watching in curiosity as he raced around the kitchen to find all the different types of food.

"You move rather quickly." He noted with a small chuckle, observing the different foods that had been placed before him.

"Yes, I have a lot of energy. I'm actually tired right now, making one video is like making 5 at once with how much energy I use." Jack explained as he slammed the last can of maraschino cherries onto the island.

"Take your pick. Or I could make you a fruit salad! I'm very good in the kitchen!" A ding came from his laptop that sat on his table caused him to turn. "Mark or Felix is trying to message me. Would you like to meet them or do you want me to text them and say I'm busy to keep you a secret for as long as possible?"

"Firstly, I would like a fruit salad, and secondly, I care not if your friends know that I am here. I don't see how it could do any harm, after all." Loki replied with a small shrug.

Jack smiled at Loki and grabbed his laptop, setting it on the island counter as he grabbed a bowl, getting ready to cut up the apple. He pressed the answer call button and Mark's voice filled the room.

"Hey Jack, what are you doing?"

"Making an intruder in my home a fruit salad." He answered nonchalantly, mentioning for Loki to give him which fruits he wanted in the salad to him.

Loki handed him a few different fruits; pineapple, bananas, one of the types of melon, chuckling at the way Jack had worded what he was doing.

Jack accepted the fruits and thanked him, starting to cut them up. He stopped a moment and looked at the screen when he realized it had gotten silent.

"Mark?"

"What do you mean, an intruder?!"

Jack rolled his eyes with a laugh and continued cutting up the fruit and putting them in the bowl. "I literally mean someone who was not supposed to be in my house. I thought he was a burglar. He says he's magic."

"Tell him to prove it, you gullible fuck." Mark told him, and Jack snorted, glancing up at Loki. "And you want to see his proof when he does?"

"Of course!"

Loki gave a small sigh. Of course, proving his claim of magic would take energy, something that he had wished to avoid. But, if it was the only way to gain complete trust, he would.

"How would you like me to prove it?" The trickster chimed, shifting his weight from one foot to the other.

"He's there? Look, I'm actually in your town, how about I get there and-!"

"Oh come on, you were here the whole time and you didn't bother to tell me?!" Jack laughed. Mark mumbled something, said he was coming over, and ended the call.

"I'm sorry about Mark, he can be a tiny bit paranoid sometimes. I believe you." Jack told Loki, finishing the fruit salad and handing the bowl to Loki.

"You can go into the living room and watch TV, or at the table and use my laptop if you want while I go upload the video and get some food for myself." Jack told Loki, putting the knife he had used into the sink before running up the stairs to go upload the video.

"No, I understand the lack of immediate trust." The god assured him with a small shake of his head, popping a piece of fruit into his mouth. When Jack turned around and left, Loki made his way to the living room. Television sounded much more interesting than the internet, at this point.

Jack started the upload and typed in all that needed to be written before tidying up his desk. Once the video was up, he put his computer to sleep and walked down the stairs slower now that he wasn't busy.

"So, what are ya watchin'?" Jack asked, letting himself fall onto the couch.

"I believe it is called 'Monty Python's The Holy Grail'." He replied, digging through the bowl of fruit to find a piece of pineapple. "I find it rather amusing, have you seen it?"

"No, I haven't, but I know what it is." Jack's stomach grumbled. "Oh, I forgot food for myself!" He stood and dashed for the kitchen, and started rifling through the cabinet.

Someone knocked on the door, startling Jack and causing him to hit his head on a shelf, chip bags falling on the floor. "Ow! Loki, can you get the door? That's probably Mark, and I need to pick up the chips."

Loki let out a small huff of laughter before setting his bowl to the side, moving quickly to the door and pulling it open.

"Hello." He greeted the person.

Mark looked Loki up and down with scrutinizing eyes, before nodding. "Hi, where's Jack?" He asked, stepping into the house.

"The kitchen." Loki replied, stepping to the side to allow the man to walk past him. "I would assume you are Mark?"

He nodded. "Yeah, I'm Mark." He answered, before heading for the kitchen. Jack came out of the kitchen with bags of chips in his hands. "Hey Ma-ARK!" Jack gasped as Mark suddenly hugged him. "Oh man, when you said you had an intruder in your house I was worried."

Jack cocked an eyebrow before lightly pushing Mark off. "Come on, Loki, let's get to the living room."

Loki nodded, making his way to the living room. When he reached the room, he sat down pretzel-legged on the couch and pulled the bowl of fruit salad back towards him, popping another piece of fruit in his mouth.

"So, how did you want Loki to prove he's magic?" Jack asked, sitting on the floor facing toward the couch. He opened a bag of regular Lays chips and ate.

"You really don't take care of yourself, do you? Um, I don't know, what can you do?" Mark asked Loki.

"Many things." Loki replied vaguely. "Though, many of those things requires more energy than I possess. However, I believe I have enough to shape shift. Would that suffice as proof?"

Mark nodded enthusiastically.

"What should he shape shift into?" Jack asked, eating another handful of chips.

"How about… a Fox!" Mark cried, causing Jack to stop with another handful close to his mouth. "A fox?" He asked incredulously.

"Yeah, a fox. Come on, magic man! Prove your magic by turning into a fox!"

With a small sigh, Loki set the bowl of fruit salad to the side once again and stood, focusing for a moment. It took a few seconds more than normal, simply because of how low his energy reserves were, but sure enough, with a green flash, he shifted from being a man to being a little, red fox. For extra emphasis, he let out a small bark.

Mark's eyes were wide with surprise, his jaw dropped a few centimeters.

"Oh my god, Loki, you are the cutest fox I've ever seen!" Jack cried, dashing into the kitchen and coming back with one grape in his hand. "Here, here, eat it in your fox form!"

Jack held the fruit out about 6 inches from Loki, and said, "Its ok if you don't want to."

Mark slapped the grape out of Jack's hands. "That's rude, Jack! Don't do that."

Jack poured before sitting back down, going back to nibbling on his chips. His stomach grumbled for real food, but Jack ignored it.

The fox gave a small sound, one that could be classified as laughter, before shifting back into Loki.

"It's quite alright, actually." He assured the two. "I would assume I have convinced you now?…"

"Well, you convinced me. Jack, I need to go, I had a few things I needed to do. But, do you think I could stay here for a while before I need to go back to America?" Mark asked, turning to Jack.

Jack looked up to the ceiling. "OK, God, my house is not a hotel, why do you keep sending people to stay here?!"

He turned back to Mark and Loki with a smile. "Yes, Mark, you can stay for a little while."

"Thanks! I'll probably only be here mornings and nights anyways, I have tons of places to be. Well, I gotta go. See ya Jack, have a nice day, Loki!"

Jack watched him go, then turned to Loki. "Do you want me to show you the guest rooms and you can choose which one you want to sleep in?"

Loki waved goodbye to Mark, before nodding in reply to Jack's question.

"If you don't mind." He added smoothly, snatching up his bowl of fruit.

Jack stood and went into the kitchen to throw away his chip bag before turning back around and walking out. He accidentally bumped into Loki, causing him to shriek.

"Oh my god, I was _not _paying attention, I'm sorry…" He was laughing a tiny bit, hand on his heart. "That scared me so bad, I'm not used to other people in my house…"

He was now more fake laugh/crying, and he started to toward the stairs, finally falling silent.

"A-after you…"

Loki couldn't help the small, slightly amused smirk at Jack's fright as he turned and began up the stairs.

"Do you forget so quickly?" He asked, his tone slightly teasing.

"Tch… don't laugh at me…" Jack grumbled, throwing his hat at Loki. It hit the man in the back of the head, and Jack caught it before it fell to the ground.

"Oh yes, I caught it! LIKE A BOSS!" He yelled, then flinched.

"Oh, oh, oh, sorry, I can be extremely loud, I forgot that I need to stay a little quieter with other people around."

Loki let out a small, indignant huff when the hat hit his head, glancing back to shoot a glare at Jack.

"Your level of sound does not bother me, you needn't worry." He assured the other, his voice carrying a slightly begrudging tone. "Believe me, I have dealt with far more loud than that."

Jack gave him a sheepish grin before gesturing to the left. "The guest rooms are on the left. There are 3. Before you say anything, I'm not rich and I didn't steal any money or anything, that's not why I have 5 rooms and both an upstairs and a downstairs."

Jack hesitated on how he should continue. "You see, about 2 years ago, my parents… well, they died, and I got the house." Jack went quiet, frown set on his face.

"Anyways, let's just hope there isn't anyone else that wants to stay at my house until they have to go back to their homeland!" Jack forced a smile at Loki.

The look of slight irritation faded, replaced with a small frown. He knew how it felt to lose a single parent when he lost Frigga, but he couldn't imagine losing two. It must have been hard for the man…

"You have my sympathy. Though it did not take place incredibly recently, I can imagine it must have been difficult." He said softly.

Jack's smile turned into a grimace for a split second before it was void of emotions.

"The door on the right is a bathroom, the door at the end of the hall is one of the guest rooms, and the 2 doors on the left are the rest. After the stairs, to the right is the hallway with my recording room, bathroom, and bedroom. The last room is off limits."

Jack flinched a little. "I don't like setting any rules, but no one's allowed in there."

"Of course." Loki replied with a small bow of his head, and he would certainly follow that rule set.

Despite the trickster's general lack of care for others' rules and such, he could tell by the man's reaction to even mentioning the last room that disobeying _that_ rule would be likely one of the worst things he could do, and he did have _some_ respect, when it was truly called for.

He turned to poke through the guest rooms, beginning to decide which one he found to be most comfortable.

Jack followed him a few feet behind, making sure to wait outside the rooms when Loki went inside. He was hungry.

Of course, there wasn't any _real _food in his house, he never bothered to go out and get it more than rarely.

He had cake downstairs. He was pretty sure he had cookies too. And ice cream. More fruit and chips. But no _food_.

"Do you want to go out for fast food for dinner?"

"Fast food?" Loki replied, one brow raised. "What in the Nine is that?"

Loki had spent very little time on Earth, and most of that time had been centuries before this. He could figure things like a television out, as it resembled some of the technology at home on Asgard, but there were a few things that he still did not know of.

Realization that Loki was probably from another world, being magic and all, was brought to the forefront of Jack's mind.

"Oh, you're not from this world, are you? OK, Fast food is food that people make and you have to be there last so that your food is fresh. But, just so you know, the longer you wait for the food, the better."

Jack was pretty sure he made his words vague enough for there to be blanks for Loki to fill and explanatory enough for him not to ask more. He hoped Loki filled the blanks wrong, because he could just see the confusion on Loki's face when they get there.

That would be so funny.

Loki nodded, an expression full of understanding tinged with confusion clear on his face. _So, it is much like a tavern, _he thought. That made more sense, why had the man not said that earlier.

"Ah… Very well, that sounds pleasant." He said with a small, decisive nod.

Mhm, so Loki had understood. He may have been slightly confused, but he understood.

"So, which one did you want? If you look at the doors, they have whiteboards and markers. You can write your name on the one you want."

Jack chuckled a little. "You know how I said I just moved in? Yeah, I moved in about a month ago. I have white boards on all of the doors with what they are written on them just in case I forget. These three have guest room written on them, you can just erase that and write your name on the one you want."

Jack straightened as his phone made a high five noise. He looked at the text then put his phone back in his pocket.

"Mark called the one on the end of the hall. If you wanted that one, I can text him that you already called it and he can just choose between the other 2."

"Hmm…" Loki hummed, looking between the doors of the other two. "I suppose it doesn't truly matter to me. They all seem rather comfortable, for a Midgardian home." He gave a small shrug. "Although, I do like the one closest to the staircase."

Jack nodded, texted Mark he could have that room, and stepped toward the one Mark wanted.

"There we go…" He murmured after he wrote Mark's name, then decided he would write Loki's, before walking down the stairs.

"Do you want to go now?"

"Yes." The god replied with another small nod. "If you don't mind. That fruit was rather good, but not quite filling. Besides, it seems as though you are rather hungry as well."

Jack's stomach growled again and he gave a sheepish look, rubbing the back of his neck.

He didn't say anything, however, just slipped on his shoes and texted Mark where they were going and that the key for the house was inside a compartment in a fake rock next to the door.

"Alright, let's go." Jack finally said, grabbing the keys off the hook beside the door and opening the door for Loki.

Loki stepped out of the house, glancing around. This was the first he had seen of things outside of Jack's house, after all, and he wanted to see what the surrounding place was like.

Jack watched Loki look around his neighborhood before going to his car and pressing the button on his keys that unlocked the doors. He pulled the passenger seat open for Loki to sit in.

Jack wondered if him being this polite was making Loki think that Jack thought he couldn't do anything himself. He hoped not, he was just always this polite, that's how his grandfather taught him to be. Hmm… his grandparents. He hoped his face didn't betray how sad that thought made him feel.

Jack forced a smile to Loki.

Loki climbed into the passenger seat of the car, still absorbed in the surrounding neighborhood to pay too terribly much attention to his host. He was more focused on how wonderfully clear the sky above was, at least for now.

"It's a rather lovely day, isn't it?" He commented, glancing back at Jack.

"Yes, very." Jack answered, looking over toward where his neighbors were. One of them was just staring at him and Loki, in a condescending way.

Jack frowned before closing the door after Loki and getting in to the driver seat, turning on the car.

Loki caught the look the neighbor was throwing at them and narrowed his eyes just a bit.

"They seem to be a bit rude." He commented, nodding his head towards the offending neighbor.

Jack's left hand tightened on the steering wheel. "… no, they just don't see me as a good person. They didn't like that I moved here and having a person they never saw go in come out of my house…"

Jack pulled out of the driveway and slowly started to drive to the Jack in the Box. His phone rang, causing Jack's hand to automatically grab for it.

Loki let out a small 'hmph' at Jack's explanation. He still felt it rude for someone to judge someone else so quickly. Even he didn't do that.

Jack glanced at Loki before checking the text on his phone, making sure to keep looking up. He tried to answer the text while driving, completely blanking on the fact that it was dangerous.

Loki glanced over at Jack as the man attempted to reply to a message on his phone, the god's brow furrowing.

"Are you quite sure you should be attempting to place your attention on both the road before you, and your cellphone?" He asked, a slight tone of scolding slipping into his voice.

Jack blinked in surprise at Loki, attention drifting away from both the road and the phone.

A honk close to him startled him, causing him to drop the phone conveniently in Loki's lap and swing to look at the road, righting the car.

"Jesus! I'm sorry!"

With a hint of a scowl, Loki picked up the little device. The message was half written out.

"Do you want me to finish typing this for you?" He offered, knowing it was likely the best way to keep Jack's attention on the road and not on his phone.

"Mhm, yes please." Jack answered, slowing for a moment before turning to the left.  
His heart still hammered in his chest, and he was slightly pale.

"Could you please type in… 'and if you needed a place to stay you should have asked me before you got here'?" Jack asked, ready to reiterate if need be.

"I'm sorry again…" Jack tried, grip on the steering wheel tightening again.

Loki nodded and finished typing in the message, before pressing send.

"Simply pay more attention next time." He replied, though the scolding tone he had been using before was completely gone now, replaced with a soft sort of understanding.

Jack sighed as he pulled into the parking lot of McDonald's. "Mhm… they have unhealthy food here." Jack stated, before getting out of the car and fixing his hat. "Do you want to go in with me?"

"As long as it tastes fine." Loki replied with a small shrug, opening the passenger door and stepping out. He held Jack's phone out for the other to take.

Jack thanked him for the phone and walked to the door of the establishment, locking the car with the button on his keys.

He held the door open for Loki.

The trickster gave a small, thankful nod before stepping into the restaurant. He wasn't quite impressed with the inside; it was very different from what he had expected. Interesting, though. He had to admit that.

Jack smiled at him before stepping in, going to the register. "Betty! How are you today?" The woman looked between him and Loki, then gave Jack a look of contempt. "Sean." She said curtly.

"So, Sean, you're finally stepping out of your house." Jack glanced behind him to see a blonde with startling green eyes glaring at him with his arms crossed. "You may be liked and accepted on the internet, but here, you really shouldn't show your face." The man said with a heavy Irish accent.

"Jacob…" Jack murmured. "What would you like, Loki?" He asked with cheer.

"I wasn't done speaking with you." Jacob growled.

Loki looked between Jack, the woman behind the register, and the other man, before turning his attention onto the menu. What was with everyone, he wondered, that they all seemed to hate Jack? The man seemed nice enough so far…

"A salad." He replied, ignoring the blond. "If you don't mind."

"A bacon double quarter pounder, please." Jack told Betty.

"I said I wasn't done speaking with you." Jacob enunciated harshly.

"I'm not my father, I didn't do anything wrong to any of you." Jack tried, before softly telling Betty he wanted an iced coffee and motioning for Loki to pick a drink.

"I'm sorry, Loki, I didn't think anyone would speak to me." Jack murmured as softly as he could.

"You've nothing to apologize about." The god assured him, matching his voice volume, before letting the cashier know that he didn't want anything but water to drink.

Jack ordered an extra order of large fries and told Betty it was to go. She gave him a paper with his number on it and Jack pulled Loki out of the way.

Jacob cursed a little bit under his breath before deliberately bumping into Jack harshly on his way to the counter. Jack winced and put a hand where he had been bumped into, obviously tender there for one reason or another.

Loki's brow furrowed when he noticed Jack wince.

"Are you hurt?" He asked softly, making sure no one else could hear him.

Jack looked up at Loki and shook his head, lying.

"876!" Betty chirped, and Jack grabbed the food and started to head out.

Suddenly someone kicked their foot out, colliding with Jack's ankle.

Jack cried out and lost purchase on the ground, starting to fall.

Lightning fast, Loki caught him before he could hit the ground. He turned to try and see who might have tripped the man, but most of his attention was consumed by trying to help him stand back up.

"Are you alright?" He asked.

Jack let the food drop to the floor as he wiped at his eyes to stop his tears. "Yes, I'm fine…" He mumbled, before stooping to grab the dropped food. "Let's just go…" Jack grimaced as he tried to walk. Whoever had kicked him had kicked really hard, and Jack was limping slightly.

He ignored the snickering he heard, wanting to get back home. And his viewers wondered why he was always inside, ready to record. Jack needed to get back home now.

Loki nodded in agreement, brow furrowed in both curiosity and slight anger. He would certainly ask for some sort of explanation at some point, but right in that moment he couldn't help but notice the similarities between his own life- his time on Asgard, of course- and Jack's. No one seemed to like him, outside of his home.

Jack unlocked his car and sat in it, putting the food in the back. When Loki got in the car, he froze.

"Oh god, I just realized that I had the idea in my mind to go to Jack in the Box but after the whole texting fiasco it slipped my mind. Blasphemy of the highest order! I went to McDonald's…"

Jack started up the car, frown set on his face. "Mark should be home. I'll give him the burger, fries are enough food for me." Jack went to grab his iced coffee, but then let out a "Gah!" noise. It was LEAKING.

"I guess no coffee for me either…" He mumbled, opening the door and setting it down on the curb.

With a small flick of Loki's wrist, a cup of iced coffee appeared in his hand. He handed it over to Jack.

"What was all of that?" He asked, his voice rather gentle. "Why does everyone seem so rude?"

Jack accepted the drink with a mumbled thank you. "I'm not well accepted here because of who my family is." Jack tried to explain as he pulled out of the parking lot to get home.

"My, uh, well, there was a lot of things… wrong, with my father most of all." Jack went silent again.

"Let's just get home, Felix and Mark will be there…"

Jack glanced over at Loki. "Why are you being so nice? We've only known each other a day." Jack didn't trust it very much, he wasn't used to people being as nice to him as Loki, except for Mark and Felix. But they were different, they were video game friends from the internet.

Loki had seen it all and he was… worried? Jack's grip tightened on the steering wheel. The last person that pretended to worry about him… but Jack didn't want to think of that.

"Because you've not given me a reason to be anything but kind." Loki replied absently, leaning back in his seat and picking at dirt under his nails. "It would be poor mannered of me to be nasty and rude, especially considering you are my host." He glanced over at the driver, before beginning again with the slightest bit of hesitancy in his voice.

"Besides, you remind me ever so slightly of myself." He stretched, letting out a small yawn. "Of course, you shouldn't mistake my kindness as trust. Never have I trusted anyone so quickly."

Jack nodded in wholehearted understanding. "Yeah, I don't trust people quick either. Last person I trusted in a heartbeat…" Jack frowned.

"We're here." He finally said, pulling in to the driveway. One car was next to the curb, Mark's car.

"Felix isn't here yet. He'll probably be here late." Jack speculated before getting out of the car and grabbing the bags of food and his iced coffee. He struggled to get them in his arms correctly and glanced at his car door.

He tried to close it with his hip, but didn't push hard enough, causing it to be half open. Jack groaned in exasperation.

Loki noticed Jack's failed attempt to close the door and, with a small smile, moved to close it.

"You can ask for help, you know." He commented, glancing down at the number of objects in Jack's arms. "You needn't carry it all."

Jack looked down at his arms. Loki was a guest, Jack didn't want his guest to have to do things. Of course, Jack did have to unlock the door, and he didn't want to put the food on the ground…

"Please?" He finally asked, shuffling a little to keep the bags from falling out of his arms.

With a small, amused breath of a laugh and a minute shake of his head, Loki reached out to take the bags of food. He cradled them in one arm, making sure they didn't fall with the other hand.

"Better?"

"Ye, thank you…" Jack told him with a slight apologetic tone, before locking the car. He picked through his keys for his house key and went to unlock and open the door for Loki.

"Of course." He replied, and gave a small, thankful nod as he walked through the door. "Is there anywhere in specific you wish for me to put this?"

"The kitchen table, please?" Jack asked, wincing. He felt extremely terrible for asking Loki to help him.

"Hey Jack, Loki!" Mark called from upstairs. Jack looked up to Mark leaning over the railing. "I'll be down in a minute!"

Loki nodded and made his way over to the kitchen, dumping the bags onto the table and giving a small yawn. Despite how early it was, the trickster found himself tired. It likely had something to do with the energy he had expended on his trip to Earth, combined with the fact that he had not yet had the opportunity to rest.

Jack pulled a chair out for Loki and one for Mark, setting the salad at Loki's spot and the burger at Mark's.

He took the 2 large fries out of the bags and placed them where he was sitting along with his drink.

"McDonald's? Cool!" Mark chirped, before narrowing his eyes at Jack. "You're only eating fries?"

Jack shrugged. "It's enough."

"No it's not. You don't look well. What happened at McDonald's?" Mark asked Loki, knowing full well that Jack wouldn't answer.

"Jack was tripped." Loki replied before turning his attention towards Jack. "And he is right. That certainly does not qualify as a meal, even by human standards. You really should eat something along with it."

Though he did his best to keep the chiding tone out of his voice, he knew it had managed to creep in anyway. He didn't want the other man to feel as though he, as a guest, was treating him as though he was a child.

Jack looked up at Loki and Mark with a fragile sort of look, before steeling himself and locking his emotions away again.

"I don't have any good food in here, the fries are fine."

"The fries are not fine, and who tripped you?" Mark asked sternly.

"It doesn't matter. Just leave me alone." Jack grumbled, leaving his fries and going up the stairs.

"Did he start crying? It looks like he's been crying." Mark asked Loki, turning to him.

"He was very near crying." Loki answered with a small nod, though his attention was still turned on Jack as he climbed up the stairs. When the man was finally out of sight, he turned to look over at Mark. "Which would be wiser at this point: leaving him alone, or attempting to console him?"

Mark gestured to the fries. "Probably to go console him, but with the food. Nothing more than the fries or he'd get angry." He explained.

"He, uh, he keeps up an image on the videos he makes for YouTube and around others, but he's really fragile." He warned.

"That, I believe, is something I may be able to relate to." Loki mumbled beneath his breath, standing and grabbing a container of fries, before beginning up the stairs. He had to be cautious in this instance, as he wanted Jack to feel better but not to feel as though Loki was babying him at all.

He made his way to the door that had been pointed out earlier as Jack's bedroom, knocking a few times.

"Jack, may I come in?"

Jack glanced upwards at the door and rubbed his eyes. "… yeah, you can come in." He answered.

He was actually very happy that Loki had come to check on him. He was usually suffering alone, but Loki was checking on him…

Loki opened the door and slipped into the room, closing it behind him.

"I brought along your fries." He said, holding out the container he had brought along as he made his way over to the other. "You had said you were hungry earlier, after all."

Jack stretched his legs forward and accepted the fries, snacking on them a little. "Thanks for not trying to force me to eat more."

He inhaled and exhaled heavily, thankful he had stopped himself from crying. He hadn't cried all the way in so long…

"I'm sorry…" Jack apologized before eating a few more fries.

"What are you apologizing for?" Loki asked gently, brow furrowed. "You have no reason to apologize."

"Of course I have a reason to apologize." Jack answered, leaning back on the wall. He wasn't sure he could get up off the floor even if he wanted to, he was exhausted now.

"I should have just left you here so you didn't have to see that, I shouldn't have ran off like a crybaby, and I shouldn't be subjecting you to my pity fest."

Jack rubbed at his eyes to make sure that he didn't start crying. Tears were edging at his eyes now.

"Firstly," Loki began, moving to take a seat beside Jack on the floor, "none of it was your fault. The way those people treated you is not your fault, you even said that you had never wronged them. Secondly, one can only stand so much teasing before they break. It's clear you've had to deal with it for quite a while, and you must understand that running off is not cowardly, it is intelligent. Staying too long in that toxic environment is something I would hope no one would do to themselves. Don't berate yourself for leaving so quickly, I would have done the same."

Jack looked over at Loki with a slightly shocked look. "I-I…" He shut his mouth and looked down before munching on another fry.

"Thank you." He finally said, resisting the urge to hug him. Oh god, Jack wanted to cry.

"I'm taking your time away from eating your salad, you should go eat…" Jack said reluctantly.

"My salad will still be there, in the same spot and nearly the same state, whether I go back now or in twenty minutes." Loki replied firmly. "You, however, appear to need company, if I am not mistaken."

Jack froze, breathing a little erratically. Tears edged at his eyes farther, and he pulled his knees to his chest. His arms wrapped around his knees and he looked back up at Loki.

"You… I'm…" He was at a loss for words at the kindness that Loki was actually showing.

"Are you sure…?" He asked cautiously.

"Absolutely." Loki gave a small nod. "I have been in a similar position before, and despite my insisting that I wished to be alone, I know all I truly needed was a friend. A support. And so, I offer that to you. As long as you wish it, I will be your support."

Jack gave a fragile smile. "Thanks." He snapped to look towards the door when Felix's voice yelled, "Hello?!"

Jack rubbed at his face to stop himself from crying and sighed. "I guess I should probably get down stairs…" He groaned a little.

"Are you sure you can?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow and moving to stand. "I'm sure your friend would understand…"

Jack looked up at Loki and gave some shaky breaths before tears finally spilled down his cheeks. He cursed and swiped at his eyes. "I-I'm so sorry, I haven't cried in forever, never in front of people…"

He stood up and shuddered before falling back to the floor and hugging his knees again, hiding his face from Loki as he cried into his knees.

Loki crouched down so that he was level with Jack, resting a gentle hand on the man's should.

"You should never apologize for crying." He said softly. "It's no more than the manifestation of an emotion, along with a rather good way to get any sadness or anger out."

Jack looked toward Loki with red rimmed eyes. "Right."

He stood again, and while utterly exhausted and starving, managed to walk towards the door. "I… that's probably one of the nicest things anyone's has done for me." He confessed.

"Is it? In that case, I'm rather glad I helped." Loki offered a warm smile as he stood back at full height, one filled with sincerity. It felt a bit strange, as he rarely smiled so sincerely anymore; oftentimes, his smiles were more smirks as he watched someone act stupidly, or sarcastic smiles while dealing with someone who hadn't the slightest idea of what they were talking about.

Jack nodded, and opened the door. He stumbled a little and winced. "Forgot I was hurt. I need sleep."

"And food!"

Jack flinched as Mark stood at the top of the stairs. "Jesus!"

"You ok, Jack?" Mark asked, noticing how he had been crying. "Yes, thanks to Loki."

Jack brushed past him down the stairs, and Mark turned to Loki. "Thank you."

"Of course." Loki gave a small bow of his head and began towards the stairs. Now that the problem had passed- for now, of course- the trickster found himself curious about the newcomer. He couldn't quite remember what his name was…

"You haven't met Felix." Mark said matter of factly, and moved out of the way. "Let's go introduce you."

Ah, so that was what it was. Felix. A rather interesting name, Loki thought. Then again, there were plenty of names that simply didn't make sense, here on Midgard…

"Yes, that's likely a good idea." He agreed, making his way down the stairs.

Jack sat at his spot at the table, munching on… he got pizza? Felix had brought it, knowing Jack enough to know that he wouldn't be eating enough.

"Hi!" Felix greeted happily when seeing Loki.

"You know, you should get some sleep, Jack." Mark warned.

"Well, he should finish eating first." Felix added, giving Mark a slightly pointed look.

Loki greeted Felix with a small nod of his head.

"From what I can tell," he interjected, "he hasn't eaten much of anything for most of the day. He should finish his fries before resting, yes. I'm assuming it's been a rather long day, hasn't it, Jack?"

Jack nodded, finishing the crust of his one piece of pizza and crunching on the last of his fries.

"Yes, but I still have things to-!"

Mark took the empty container from him and forced him out of the chair.

"Hey-!"

"You're going to bed." Felix said matter of factly.

"Wait a moment." Loki chimed, his brow furrowed. He wanted to make sure that Jack had at least gotten enough food before they forced him to go to bed. "Are you at all hungry still, Jack?"

Jack shook his head. "No, I'm fine." He answered.

Mark let go. "You completely sure?"

Jack gave a nod. "But I really don't need sleep yet…" Jack shook his head violently as he had almost fallen asleep on his feet. "Ok, I may be a little tired."

"Come on, then. You need rest." Loki nodded towards the staircase. "You'll feel infinitely better when you wake."

Jack gave a reluctant sigh and nodded, going up the stairs. "See you in the morning…" He mumbled, before his door shut with a slam.

"Thanks, Loki." Mark said, sitting down to eat his burger.

"So, who are you?" Felix asked curiously, eating a slice of pizza.

"My name is Loki." The god replied, taking a seat in front of his salad. "I'll be staying here for about a week, in order to regain my energy."

"He's the magic man." Mark added.

"Du-er-WHAT?!" Felix blinked. "You weren't fucking with me?"

Mark shook his head. "Don't force him to show you, take mine and Jack's word for it." Mark went silent. "Take his word for it tomorrow."

Felix seemed to get over it quicker than Mark. "So are you from another world or are you an overpowered human?" He asked.

"Asgard." He gave a small yawn. "I hail from Asgard, realm of the glorious and mighty Aesir." His voice held a rather bored, sarcastic tone, which was only punctuated by him rolling his eyes. "No, I am not human."

"Mythology, dude. I should have known once he used magic." Mark said. Felix obviously didn't understand. "… what?"

"Norse Mythology?" Mark tried, but Felix only blinked.

"Never mind. I've been out all day, I'm tired, I'm going to go upstairs, check to see if Jack's actually sleeping, and going to bed."

"Me too, I've been on a plane for hours, and I know I've been sitting the whole time, but traveling is tiring." Felix said, standing. The 2 bid Loki goodnight and went up the stairs.

Loki bid them goodnight and finished his salad, reflecting on the day. It had been strange for him to pop up on Midgard, though, admittedly… nice. Jack and his friends were rather kind, for humans, and they weren't too terribly rude. He had very nearly made a friend out of Jack, which was unusual for him. Normally, it took years to form a friendship.

All in all, he decided as he threw away the container for his salad and began up the stairs, heading to the door with his name written on the door, a rather good day, for it to have started with a mistake.

**End Day 1.**

**Thank you guys for reading this chapter, if you LIKED it, punch that follow/favorite/review button IIIN the face, LIKE A BOSS! And, high fives all around~! Wpsh, wpsh! Well, thank you guys, and I will see all you DUU~UUDEE~S, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!**


	2. Day 2

**Hey dudes and dudettes. Welcome to Day 2.**

Jack awoke feeling refreshed. He checked the time and seized up, rushing out of the room and too the recording room. "Why did I sleep so much, I'm just going to put up the Hunie Pop episode I recorded a few days ago."

He uploaded the video in a hurry, then rushed down the stairs, grabbing some frozen waffles from the freezer to make for him and his guests.

"Freezer burn? How long has these things been in here?"

Jack threw them in the trash and rifled through the freezer.

Loki awoke rather slowly from an incredibly deep sleep, yawning. A sliver of panic pierced his heart for a moment when he realized how unfamiliar the surroundings are, but as the events of the previous day returned to him, he felt himself relax. He was somewhere safe, he had to remind himself. There was no reason to be on full alert.

And so, he continued to allow himself to wake slowly, sitting up and stretching, magicking himself a new, fresh outfit for the day.

"I HAVE BACON!" Jack yelled out, then flinched at his own volume. He heard someone rush down the stairs loudly. "Bacon?!" Mark yelled, rushing to the table.

Jack nodded, grabbing the eggs and cheese. "Omelets?"

"Those sound good!" Felix affirmed, rushing into his spot.

"Be quiet, Loki's still asleep!" Jack hissed.

"No, actually, I'm not." Loki chimed, slowly making his way down the staircase. He was wearing a white button up, only buttoned up 'till the second from the top, with the sleeves rolled up, and his long hair was pulled back into a bun. "Good morning, everyone." He greeted them when he reached the kitchen, taking a seat at the table. "Did you say bacon?"

Jack nodded, giving Loki a smile and humming to himself as he got the pans out of his cupboards.

"You kinda look like a girl." Felix suddenly said, and Mark slapped his arm. "Ow!"

"You literally have no brain to mouth filter, you rude shit."

"Will you stop cursing, Mark, and will you stop being rude, Felix?" Jack growled at them, then turned back into his regular cheerful self, turning on the stove.

"You're scary sometimes, you know that Jack?" Mark whimpered.

A small, clearly amused smirk had formed on Loki's lips at both Jack's reaction and Mark and Felix's reaction to Jack. He never would have pegged Jack to be one to snap like that.

"I suppose that's fair, Felix, as you look rather like a servant to me." He commented coolly, deciding it was much too early to get angry over a stupid comment like that. "Especially with your hair so short. It's amazing, how cultural differences work."

Felix gaped a moment before pouting and crossing his arms. "Jack~!" He whined.

"I'm not your mother, so stop making me into that." Jack grumbled, mixing eggs, cooked bacon, and cheese in a bowl.

"You're supposed to cook the cheese onto the egg, not mix it into the egg." Mark told him.

"St~o~o~o~p!" Jack groaned and starting cooking the egg in the pan.

"It'll taste fine either way." Loki pointed out, leaning his chair back so only the back feet touched the ground. There was a small, victorious smile, one which only a glint of teeth could be seen through, there from making Felix pout like a small child. He had forgotten how fun it could be…

Jack grit his teeth and turned with an angry glare when Felix tried to 'tell on Loki'.

"Stop. It." He grit out, before going back to cooking.

His whole body went rigid as the doorbell rang, going pale.

"Lola…" He hissed.

"Sean, I know you're there! Ugh, why do I…" The woman kicked Jack's door harshly.

"Sean!"

Mark looked over at Jack. "Who's that?"

Felix stopped pouting to look up at Jack in curiosity.

Rather than being simply curious, like the others, Loki looked a bit concerned. The sudden paleness of Jack's face certainly showed some level of fear or something of the sort… He wondered who it could be that seemed to ruin the man's day before it had barely began.

"Jack, who is it?" He asked, his voice rather gentle, but firm at the same time.

Jack cursed under his breath and stepped back from the eggs. "That's Lola. Not even her real-!"

"SEAN!"

His whole body jerked in surprise as her voice went even higher.

He looked back to the 3 men at the table. "My neighbor from when we were young. We used to be friends before…"

"I WILL BURN THIS HOUSE DOWN, SEAN! OPEN THE DAMN DOOR!"

Jack grimaced and started towards the door.

Loki watched as the man made his way to the door, feeling curiosity buzz through him. He wanted to know the story behind this, behind why the woman was positively screaming through the door, and why Jack seemed not to want to open it.

Jack reluctantly unlocked the door to a blue and purple haired girl with giant over the head headphones around her neck.

Her blue eyes glared daggers into Jack, and she snarled, "You kept me waiting, Sean. I don't have to get Michael, do I?"

Jack paled even more.

"Oh hey, you should just leave him alone." Mark said sternly, going to stand beside Jack.

"Yeah, you don't threaten to burn people's houses down." Felix glared.

Loki stayed silent, knowing better than to budge into whatever this was for now. His interference would likely make the situation worse, something that he really didn't wish upon Jack. He was tensed, however, recognizing the threat in the woman's voice.

"Tell them to stay out of it, Sean." Lola growled menacingly, nearly identical to how Jack had growled in the kitchen.

Jack quietly told Mark and Felix that he was alright, they didn't have to say anything.

"You need to learn how to drive, Sean. I heard you nearly crashed yesterday. You could have killed someone."

"What if I had died?" Jack found himself asking softly.

"Who cares? Now, I need, like, 50 bucks, so cough it up."

The trickster's brows furrowed at her flippant reply, irritated with the rudeness Jack was being confronted with. Insults, carelessness, and demands. A part of him wondered how the man could stand it…

Jack looked to the ground submissively and went for his wallet.

"C'mon, you're not actually giving her the money, are you?" Felix asked incredulously.

Jack glanced at him only a moment before pulling out 2 $20 bills and 1 $10 Bill.

"Don't give it to her…" Mark spoke.

"Shut them up, Sean." Lola said in a warning tone.

"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is going on?" Loki asked, his chin raised and his expression schooled into a polite one, though the irritation could be seen through it if one bothered to look. "Who are you?"

Lola folded her arms. "Jack's master, I guess. He does whatever I say, I own him. If he doesn't listen, I just call Michael." Lola gave a sadistic type of laugh. "He listens then."

"That's sick." Mark growled.

"Doesn't matter, it's just Sean. By the way, your sister called. I did the paperwork for you, now you HAVE to stay here until at least the end of July. Hand over the money and I'll be on my way."

"Ah- perhaps I wasn't specific enough." Loki pushed away from the table, standing. "What I meant was, 'who are you that you feel you have the right to treat him in such a way?'" His voice, much like his expression was polite, though one could hear the irritation beneath the facade.

Lola's eyes flashed with anger and irritation. "Well…" She seemed at a loss for words for a moment.

"His master. I don't know how else to explain this too you…" Lola took the hat from Jack, glaring at him when he started to complain.

"He's my bitch." Lola said in a steely voice, punctuating this sentence by putting the hat on her head.

"Mm. What an eloquent way of putting it." Loki commented dryly, clasping his hands together behind his back. "And this was achieved through threatening?"

"No." Lola started.

"L-lola!" Jack said in surprise, playing.

"He's like a dog- I had to train him. Got my brother Michael to help me."

Jack flinched violently and nearly fell. Felix held onto one of his arms and Mark the other.

"You're fucking sick…" Mark repeated angrily.

"I'll have to agree with that." Loki said with a small nod, his mouth now set into a firm, obviously angry line. "Now, seeing as you've been given what you so rudely requested, you should be on your way."

Lola looked at her newly acquired money and shoved the hat down on her head.

"Yeah, ok, see ya, Sean. I'm taking the hat."

"But-!"

Lola glared at him, causing Jack to shut his mouth with an audible click.

Lola gave a giggle and turned. "Thanks for the hat!" She chirped before slamming the door behind her.

"Jack…" Felix tried.

"The eggs." Jack suddenly said, pushing himself away from Mark and Felix. He was thankful for this distraction, even if he knew it wasn't going to last long.

Loki followed the man to the kitchen, his arms falling to his sides.

"Jack, what was that?" He asked, his voice gentle but firm.

Jack froze for a moment, thinking, but then decided to ignore the question.

"The eggs are burnt, I'll just have to throw them away and start again." Jack explained, voice quivering.

"Don't avoid the question." Loki said with a small shake of his head. "She treated you so horribly, how could you allow that?"

"Allow it?!" Jack hiccupped, shaking as tears finally cascaded down his cheeks. Mark and Felix were silent, sitting at the table watching Jack.

"What am I supposed to do?" He asked, crossing his arms loosely around his stomach. "I really am a dog…"

"No, you're not." Loki protested softly. "You're frightened." He paused a moment, thinking, before asking another question, this time with less aggravation behind it. "How did this all happen, really?"

Jack let himself slide to the floor, staring blankly ahead.

"Back when we were kids, Lola and me were friends. But then… Michael found out… my parents… so my mom sent me away to live with my grandparents… they died and I had to go back here…"

Jack shuddered. "My dad… he… anyways, when I first came here… Lola saw the opportunity and… and she took it…" Jack's phrases were broken and he was having a panic attack.

Mark suddenly sprung up and ran to Jack. "Breathe Jack, just breathe!"

Loki's eyes widened at Jack's state, and felt that it would be best not to push too much more. This was obviously a sensitive topic, something he could understand perfectly well. He wasn't quite sure what to do, however…

Felix got up from the table and bent to see Jack. "You ok?"

Jack nodded, but he was breathing erratically, and he was still panicking, so Mark gave him a hug.

It calmed Jack down very quickly, and he looked up at Loki. "I'm sorry, Loki…"

"What for?" The god asked, obviously confused. "You've nothing to apologize for, it was _my_ prying…"

"Yeah but if I wasn't such a-!"

"You should stop that line of thinking." Felix told him, standing. "None of this," Felix motioned to Jack, Mark still hanging onto him, but much looser, "Is your fault."

Jack sighed and nestled back into Mark.

"I don't have any more food. I need to go to the store." Jack wiped his face. "Come with me, Loki?" He asked.

"Of course." Loki gave a little nod. "I would love to."

"I have somewhere to be… if you want me to stay-!" Felix tried.

"It's fine, I have Loki and Mark. It's important, right?"

"Well, for my job, but you're a little more important than that."

Jack waved him off. "It's ok." Felix watched him a moment before sighing and nodding, rushing up the stairs to get ready.

"I'll come with you. I don't have anywhere to be for another 3 hours." Mark explained, standing and helping Jack up.

"Where do you go to get food, if I may ask? A market?" Loki inquired. "I've not been to Midgard in quite a long time, and things seem to have changed by an incredible amount between then and now."

"I go to the corner store." Jack said, and Mark wrinkled his nose. "No wonder you never have good food here."

"It's different here than in America, Mark…" Jack rolled his eyes and grabbed his wallet. "I should get more money from my room. Be right back." Jack said, rushing up the stairs.

"Are you as worried about him as I am?" Mark asked Loki when he was sure Jack was gone.

"Yes, it's very likely that I am." Loki agreed with a little nod, lips pressed together in a thin line. "He doesn't take very good care of himself, does he?"

Mark sighed. "No, he doesn't. I wish he'd see how bad it is." Mark murmured the last sentence.

"… that thing with Lola and Michael was sick." Mark growled.

Loki gave a low hum- though it sounded more like a growl- in agreement.

"I would have truly interjected, if I hadn't known it would only cause more trouble." He muttered.

"But… I'm just… what trouble? Did they… do they… HURT him?" Mark winced when the word left his mouth.

"Did he do anything yesterday that might have tipped you off, that could have shown he was hurt?"

"Whenever Lola mentioned her brother, Michael, Jack would flinch." Loki said grimly. "I believe there may be a bit more than simple threats involved in that situation…"

Mark grimaced. "I don't know what to do… to HELP him though…" He sighed and rested his face in his hands, leaning onto the island counter.

He cursed suddenly and looked back up at Loki. "What should we do?"

"We need to approach him about it, but we must do so carefully." The god replied evenly. "It's clearly a sensitive topic, and it can set off a panic. We need to try to avoid that again, but we must speak with him, to be sure of it."

Mark nodded just as Jack came down the stairs, putting on his sweatshirt. "Hey. What are you guys talking about?" He asked, getting a little suspicious as Mark snapped up and froze.

"Ah, Jack!" Loki greeted him with a wide smile. "We were simply discussing my idea for dinner. I was hoping you would be alright if I cooked. Would you prefer pasta, or chicken?"

Mark relaxed and hoped him going back to leaning on the counter would derail Jack's suspicions.

Jack decided to let it slide for the moment. "Pasta sounds wonderful, but you don't need to cook."

His stomach growled. "We need to get breakfast while we're out…" Jack murmured.

"Please, I insist. I actually rather enjoy cooking." The god informed him with a little smile.

"You're absolutely sure?" Jack asked, still worried that Loki making dinner would be rude. After all, Loki was a guest. Jack was supposed to take care of Loki. Even if he could barely take care of himself.

"I am." He assured the man. "And I haven't had the opportunity to do so in quite a long time. I was always told that cooking was a womanly hobby, and therefore not allowed in the kitchens."

Mark glanced up at Loki. "Really…?" He asked softly.

"Then of course you can cook! You can do whatever you want." Jack claimed, and Mark straightened.

"Yeah, what do you need to cook?" Mark asked.

"Well, that depends on what sort of pasta you would like. Buttery, red sauce, or white sauce?" Loki listed, ticking each thing off on his hand. "After all, each one needs different ingredients."

"Mhm, buttery sounds good…" Jack licked his lips. "I can't wait for that."

"Alright, let's go." Mark said, smiling. It only looked a little forced, not enough for Jack to figure it out.

Jack nodded happily and walked towards the door, saying goodbye to Felix as Felix gave him a quick hug and rushed out the door.

"Wonderful." Loki's smile widened just a bit. Though the cooking idea was both a cover and a way to secretly make Jack eat a proper meal, he couldn't wait. He hadn't been allowed to step into a kitchen in nearly two hundred years. That didn't mean that he didn't sneak in, but he enjoyed receiving praise for his accomplishments, something that simply didn't happen when he was in servant's guise.

Mark gave Loki a small smile and walked out to where Jack was, beckoning for Loki to follow. "Good cover." He whispered.

Jack grabbed his keys and stood at the door, waiting for Loki and Mark to come.

Loki gave a little knowing nod in acknowledgement of Mark's compliment, along with a look that conveyed the message, 'I've done it before', before turning to follow Jack out the door.

"You don't mind vegetables at all, do you?" The god asked. "Much of the pasta recipe I have in mind includes some sort of vegetable."

"Uh… sure." Jack nodded, giving him a smile before going out to the car.

"How should we broach the subject?" Mark asked as he stepped out the door and closed and locked it behind him and Loki with the spare key before hiding it in the fake rock again.

"We wait until dinner." Loki replied quietly. "That way, we'll have given him a bit more time to calm. Not only that, but we have a better chance of getting clear information if the event did not just occur. Waiting is currently our best option."

Mark nodded his assent and walked to the car, before freezing. "Shotgun!" He suddenly yelled.

"What? You really called shotgun?" Jack asked incredulously, getting out of the car. "Loki doesn't know what that means."

Mark winced. "Right… I call the front seat."

Jack rolled his eyes and sighed before getting back into the car, turning it on.

While the god wasn't particularly thrilled at being left with the backseat, he stuck it out anyway. It wasn't worth getting into an argument over, not in Loki's eyes. So, he opened the door to the back and slid in, crossing one leg over the other.

Fear curdled in Jack's stomach as Michael's eyes narrowed.

"Lola didn't like how today went, Sean. What happened?" Michael asked darkly.

"N-n-nothing, I gave her the money, she has my hat-!"

"She said you were complaining and your 'friends' seemed to be a problem." Michael bent his fingers at the word friends, causing Mark's jaw to set angrily.

Loki leaned forward, poking his head in between the driver and passenger's seats, still knowing better than to speak, but very much on the ready to defend anyone.

"How long did it take you to answer the door?" There it was. Jack had known it would come up, his hands squeezing the steering wheel tightly.

"I… I don't know…"

"Sean, may you step out of the car please?"

Mark snapped to look at Michael in shock and barely veiled anger. "We're just about to go to the corner store." He tried.

Michael's jaw set and he continued politely, "Don't worry, it will only take a minute. Sean?"

"Might I ask why he needs to step out of the car?" Loki chimed, taking care to keep his voice politely curious. "You can speak to him perfectly well as he sits there, can you not?"

"I'm looking for a better view of his face."

'Yeah,' Jack thought. 'A better view of my face as I cry out in pain. What is he going to do to me?'

Michael calmly asked again if Jack would get out of the car, and he slowly, shaking and pale, reached to open his door.

Loki reached out to grab Jack's arm, the one closest to him, to stop him. As the god turned to look from Jack back at Michael, any sort of polite mask completely missing.

"There's no reason for him to leave his vehicle, I see no reason why he should." The trickster cut in curtly.

Michael's politeness quickly vanished, and he snarled, "I told him to fucking leave the car so he will!"

Jack flinched violently and looked at Michael with pure FEAR, shaking. "M-Michael-!"

"Get. Out. Of. The. Car, Sean."

Mark rested a hand on Jack's shoulder lightly, frowning as Jack jerked a little as if he had been expecting to be hit.

"_Leave him alone_." Loki commanded, his expression and voice taking on a threatening tone. Jack had clearly dealt with more than he deserved for quite a while, that was clear by the day the god had spent there already. He was not about to let some brute bully the poor man into doing what he said.

Jack looked at Loki in surprise, unsure what to think of his protection.

Michael growled and suddenly reached in for Jack, pulling him forward by his neck.

The wind was knocked out of him and Jack looked up at him, terrified.

"Hey!" Mark yelled angrily.

"You're not being a very good listener, Sean. I'll let it go for now, but you really should be punished." He hissed before letting Jack go, stepping away from the car.

Loki stared silently as Michael stepped back from the car, positively glaring. He hated seeing anyone treated like this, like a slave. Yes, he had servants on Asgard, but not to the level of beating, like this. This was just… horrible. He hated it.

Michael turned and walked down the driveway, towards wherever his house was.

Jack shakily sat back in his seat, trying to catch his breath.

"Jack…" Mark tried softly, and inhaled in surprise as Jack leaped forward and wrapped his arms around Mark, crying into his chest. Michael had never done anything to him in front of people Jack actually cared about, and it was getting to him.

Loki's expression morphed into one of concern at Jack's outburst, and so he tried to comfort the man best he could. He rested a hand on his shoulder, a silent question; 'Are you alright?'

Jack let Mark go and looked to Loki, giving a silent nod before getting ready to drive.

"The store now?" Jack asked, voice quivering.

"Jack, perhaps you should allow Mark to drive." Loki suggested softly. "One does not perform as well while shaken as you have been."

Jack stayed silent, shutting his eyes, before nodding and getting out of the car. Mark quickly followed suit and got in the driver seat.

"I can go in the back if you want the passenger seat, Loki." Jack offered.

"No, it's alright." Loki assured Jack with a little wave. "You sit up there."

Jack watched him a moment and sighed before nodding. He opened the passenger door and sat down in the seat.

"Maybe we should listen to music." Mark suggested finally, turning on the stereo as he backed out and went the way Jack pointed, right.

'Short steps  
Deep breath  
Everything is alright  
Chin up, I can't  
Step into the spotlight…'

As Loki listened to the song, he allowed himself to drift off a bit and think. Not necessarily about anything in particular. His mind jumped from one thing to another; recent things, things far back in the past…

'She said, "I'm sad."  
Somehow without any words  
I just stood there  
Searching for an answer…'

Jack gave a sad smile and looked back to Loki. He didn't speak, and turned back forward.

Mark went the ways he pointed with a soft frown as he listened to the song, recognizing it as the song Emily Scholz sang for him back when he got 6 million subscribers.

'When this world is no more  
The moon is all we'll see  
I'll ask you to fly away with me  
Until the stars all fall down  
They empty from the sky  
But I don't mind  
If you're with me, then everything's alright'

After a moment of drifting, Loki focused more on the song lyrics. He gave a little frown. The words were a bit sad, but he liked it.

"What is this song?" He inquired.

"It's called Everything's Alright by Emily Scholz. It, uh, its a good song, huh?" Jack asked as Mark parked and shut off the car.

"I like it." Loki agreed with a little nod, moving to get out of the car.

Jack stepped out and shut the door. Mark followed suit and locked the car once Loki was out.

"Alright, look for Julie or Andrew, they are very nice people who help me out when I'm looking for stuff."

"Are they workers?" Loki inquired, smoothing down his shirt as he glanced around the parking lot.

"Yeah, the only people in this town who…" Jack stopped himself from continuing his sentence. He really didn't want them to know that they were the only ones who liked him.

Loki nodded, having understood what Jack was saying without him having to finish the sentence. There was a mixture between pity and anger in his expression. It was positively unfair for this man to have to deal with the rudeness.

Jack sighed and Mark frowned at the implications of Jack's unfinished sentence.

Jack went into the store and called out, "Julie, Andrew?!"

"Jesus, Sean, why can't you just shut up?" A woman asked, walking past him. Jack winced and said, "Sorry, Gracie."

The woman rolled her eyes and went back to her phone, leaving the store.

Loki felt a pang of irritation and glanced back at the woman, glaring, though he knew she wouldn't see it. She seemed much too invested in her cellphone to notice anything.

Jack sighed.

"Jack, there you are!" A woman with blonde hair and brown eyes chirped happily, slinging her arms over Jack's shoulder.

"Hey Julie!"

Loki's frown was replaced with a look of curiosity at the arrival of the new person, but he decided not to say anything until he was pointed out.

"I haven't seen you in 2 months!" Julie said.

Jack winced as Mark inhaled sharply. "You haven't been to the store for 2 months…?"

Jack hugged himself around his stomach as Julie let go.

"… yeah he hasn't been in for 2 months."

"Two months without buying food from a grocery store?" Loki chimed, brow furrowed. That didn't seem quite right… He couldn't eat fast food all the time, could he? "What do you eat?"

Jack shrugged helplessly. "Whatever I find in my house, I go to Jack in the Box sometimes, I don't know…"

Mark put a hand on his face and groaned. "Jack, that's not healthy…"

"You eat so little fresh food?" Loki's voice was wrought with disbelief. "Why?"

"It gets to hard to go out." Jack said simply, and Julie pursed her lips. "I have something for you. Let me go grab it." And she was off.

Loki's lips pressed together in a little, disapproving line. These people treated Jack so badly he could hardly stand leaving his home, even to purchase food… The trickster was beginning to feel more anger than pity for the man.

Julie hurriedly came back with an ice cream cake box in her hands. "Here, it's free, don't worry! Let's get you some real food." She said gently, before looking at Mark and Loki.

"So who are you both?" She asked.

"I'm a friend of Jack's, my name is Mark."

"And my name is Loki, a newer friend of Jack's." The trickster introduced himself with a little bow of his head.

Julie smiled at them. "That's good, I'm glad you made friends. Come on Jack." Julie said softly, gently holding his arm and pulling him to the fruits and vegetables.

"This is a corner store?" Mark asked, confused. "I told you, it's different than America."

"Well, it works perfectly well for my plans for dinner." Loki chimed excitedly, looking around at all the vegetables. "There are so many things here that I can use…"

Jack smiled at him and nodded. "You just pick out whatever you want." He said, pulling out his wallet. "I have money."

"I should hope so, you haven't really spent much in awhile." Julie said, frowning. "Unless you, I don't know, a certain bitch 'asked' you for money?"

Jack grimaced.

"You said you wanted buttery pasta, correct?" Loki asked, having drifted over to the refrigerated vegetables. "I can't remember…"

"Yeah, buttery." Jack answered, grabbing some fruit and a basket. He put the fruit into the basket and went to Loki. "Just put what you want in here."

The god gave a little nod, looking through the various vegetables. Honestly, there were so many different ways he could prepare the dish; it all depended on who was eating it. And so, he turned to face Mark and Jack.

"How much do you like vegetables?" He asked the pair of them.

"I, uh, I'm more of a meat person…" Mark said sheepishly.

"Vegetables are good." Jack answered simply with a shrug.

"Easy on the vegetables, but not too easy," Loki muttered to himself, turning back to the array of foods before him, "and perhaps a bit of chicken. In that case, what I can do is season and sautee the vegetables and meat together…" His muttering subsided to mouthing words silently to himself as he pulled a few different things off the shelf, zucchini, bell peppers, and cauliflower, turning back towards the others with a raised eyebrow. "Will these be satisfactory?"

"Um, YES, I love cauliflower!" Jack exclaimed, and Mark chuckled at him with a smile. "Yeah, that's fine."

Julie smiled happily at that and turned as someone called for help. "Sorry Jack, I'll be back." She said before rushing off.

"Wonderful." Loki gave a little smile and set the items in the basket. "Now, Mark mentioned liking meat, so I was thinking of adding a bit of chicken to the dish. Also, Jack, I was wondering what type of spices you have in your kitchen?"

"Er, Cumin, pepper corns, bay leaves, garlic salt… I'm not sure what else. I think I have sea salt and allspice cloves." Jack said, biting his lip in thought.

"Let's get you another hat." Mark suddenly said, ruffling Jack's hair. Jack scowled a little and fixed his hair.

"Perfect." Loki chimed. As far as he could tell, Jack had everything he might need for the dish. "And yes, I agree with Mark, your hat suited you. You should get a new one."

Jack thought a moment, then nodded. "Yeah, ok. I should find one that looks the same over this way." Jack pointed towards the back of the store.

Mark nodded. "I'll go look for a hat for you, you stay here with Loki, ok?"

Jack hesitated before saying, "Are you sure you want to go alone? I mean, if people know your my friend…"

"Its ok, Jack, I'll be fine." Mark assured him with a smile.

Jack watched him go and turned to Loki. "What, uh, what else do you need?"

"Chicken, butter, and pasta, I believe it comes in boxes here?" The trickster's face scrunched up a bit as he tried to remember. "Yes, I believe there's no need for me to make my own."

Jack beckoned for Loki to follow, grabbing a box of butter and a package of uncooked chicken. "This stays away from the vegetables, right?" He asked, putting a box of pasta from an aisle behind him into the basket.

Loki gave a little shrug.

"I haven't the slightest idea; on Asgard, all our meat is fresh. Not packaged, like this, and therefore can be near anything."

Jack blinked before putting the chicken into the basket.

Mark put a finger to his lips as he came up behind Jack and got ready to put the hat onto Jack's head.

A little smirk formed on the trickster's lips as he noticed Mark sneaking up on Jack, not saying a word.

Jack got a little suspicious at the smirk on his face. "What's-!" He started, then jerking in surprise as a hat was pushed onto his head.

"Oh Jesus!" He cried, turning to see Mark. He put a hand to his chest and breathed erratically. "You scared the daylights out of me…"

Loki gave a little chuckle.

"I do believe that hat looks nearly identical to your old one."

Jack pulled it off to look at it and smiled softly. "Thanks, Mark." He said, chuckling.

Mark nodded. "You're absolutely welcome."

"Did you guys need anything else?" Jack asked, glancing at the yogurt area a moment with longing before turning back to Loki and Mark.

"You should stock up on ramen. Graham crackers are good. How about some yogurt?"

Jack waved him off. "Hold on, priority is eh at you guys need and want. I better text Felix."

"Jack, you should focus on your own well being as well." Loki chided, his little grin falling and his brows furrowed. "We should not necessarily be your top priority, despite the fact that we are guests. You need to take care of yourself, before you take care of anyone else."

Jack looked up at Loki and blinked a little in surprise. "B-but…"

"He's right. Here, ramen…" Mark grabbed some instant ramen and put it into the basket.

"Your cart is getting full." Mark said as he put in the Graham crackers.

"Its called a basket here." Jack told him. "Just like we say, 'Lets take the LIFT upstairs.'"

"Excuse you, it's called an elevator."

"Excuse you, go eff yourself." Jack answered, opening the glass refrigerator type thing. "Ooh, caramel yogurt!" Jack said, pronouncing it care-a-mehl.

"I don't even… care-a-mehl? It's car-mul."

"You two are really going to fight over something as trivial as pronunciation?" Loki asked, though he had to admit it was slightly amusing.

Jack went back to finding different flavors of yogurt.

"I'm trying to give him some normalcy." Mark whispered to Loki. "He needs it, and if fighting over words will give it to him, then so be it."

He said louder to Jack, "You ready to buy the stuff in the cart?"

"Basket, and yeah, let's go." He answered, pushing the basket to the checkout.

Julie was at the register as soon as she saw they were there. "Oh good, you got food! Sorry I couldn't help you more." Julie apologized as Mark and Jack started to put the groceries onto the belt.

"I… I heard what happened with Michael. Is he gonna clatter you?" Jack froze for a moment before continuing. "It doesn't matter."

Loki watched the exchange, slightly confused as to what the word 'clatter' was supposed to mean in this context, but he supposed it couldn't be anything good with the way Jack froze. Something along the lines of harm, he guessed…

"There you go, that'll be… me gad, that'll be $72.67."

Jack pulled out his wallet and gave her 4 $20 bills. "Here you go, $7.33 is your change. But seriously, is Michael…?"

"It really doesn't matter, Julie. Thanks for your help today, and for the cake." Julie nodded with a worried expression on her face.

"O-ok, Jack. But call Andrew or me if anything happens. Ok? I don't want to be left in the dark." Jack nodded after a few moments.

"If you'd like, I can help carry things?" Loki offered, glancing down at the bags of food.

Jack gave a hesitant nod. "I, uh, I would appreciate it…" Jack winced a little, obviously not liking having his guests have to do things.

Mark took all of the bags that Jack had grabbed already.

Jack sighed, put on his new hat, and reached for the bags still on the wheel of bags.

Before Jack could grab any of the remaining bags, however, Loki reached out and took them. Normally, he would have complained about having to do anything, but he wanted to help Jack, and he knew this was a good way to do so.

Jack grimaced. "No, guys, it's ok, I can carry-!"

"Relax, Jack. Let's get to the car." Mark told him gently, and Jack exhaled before nodding, giving Julie a quick hug, and following Mark and Loki out to the car.

"You know, I am not bothered with helping you." Loki commented when they reached the car. "It is the least I can do, after all, for allowing me to stay in your home."

Jack looked a little skeptical but nodded. He opened the trunk for them and Mark put all the bags that were in his hands into the trunk.

Jack went into the driver seat and turned on the car, air conditioner to the lowest level, and stereo.

'Why do my words  
Always lose their meaning?  
What I feel, what I say  
There's such a rift between them'

"We're finishing the song?" Mark asked, getting into the back with a quick look to Loki that said, 'You can take the front this time.'

Jack nodded in response to Mark's question.

After setting his bags in the trunk, Loki climbed into the front seat, settling comfortably into his chair.

"What time is it?" He inquired.

Jack glanced at the time. "10:14."

"Oh, I gotta go in an hour and 15 minutes…" Mark said apologetically.

"Its ok, Mark, I know you have things to do." Jack answered.

'He said, "I can't  
Really seem to read you."  
I just stood there  
Never know what I should do'

Jack started towards his home, silently listening to the music.

Loki felt content in the partial silence, sitting back in his seat and tapping his fingers on his leg as he stared out the window.

'When this world is no more  
The moon is all we'll see  
I'll ask you to fly away with me  
Until the stars all fall down  
They empty from the sky  
But I don't mind  
If you're with me, then everything's alright  
If you're with me, then everything's alright'

Jack pulled up into the driveway and turned off the car as the song ended. "We're here… hold on a moment, though…" Jack said quietly, stepping out of the car cautiously.

"What's wrong?" Mark asked. Jack didn't answer for a moment, but then exhaled in relief. "Nothing's wrong." He said truthfully, happy no one was here waiting for him or something.

God he felt paranoid. Jack opened the trunk and hurried to unlock the door as Mark got out and grabbed some bags.

Jack was as fast as lightning, rushing back to the trunk, grabbing the ice cream cake, and running inside to put it in the freezer.

Loki pushed the car door open and made his way to the trunk to grab a few things as well, slightly curious as to why Jack was acting so strange. He shrugged it off; at the very least, the man didn't seem overly frightened, or something of the like.

Jack started making ramen once Mark brought them in. "Which kind-"

"I'll make them, go have your care-a-mehl yogurt."

Jack rolled his eyes with a smile and grabbed a yogurt cup and a spoon.

"What kind do you want, Loki? Oriental, beef, shrimp, chicken…?" Mark asked, knowing Jack had wanted beef since that was the one he had pulled out.

"Are you sure you want to share your oriental?" Jack asked innocently.

"That's racist." Mark chuckled, and Jack went back to his yogurt with a laugh, turning on his laptop and sitting at the table.

"Chicken, I suppose." The god replied, leaning against the counter. "Although, I am curious, what does 'Oriental' taste like?"

Mark thought a moment. " I have had it and I can't even really tell you for sure - I suppose it's kind of like soy sauce, garlic and ginger flavor, like the basis for most Asian foods, which is the main reason I said what Jack said was racist - I think it's delicious, try some." He suggested to Loki with a smile.

"Huh. I suppose I'd like to try that one, then. It sounds interesting." Loki said, tapping his fingers on the counter absentmindedly.

Mark nodded and brought out another Oriental. Jack finished his yogurt and set his spoon in the sink, throwing away the yogurt cup.

"I have to go upload a video for YouTube, I'm just going to upload an already made video, I'll be back." Jack said, going up the stairs as Mark waved goodbye.

"What should we do about Michael?"

"If he comes back?" Loki inquired, glancing over at Mark. "Well, we defend Jack. He has no right to beat him like that…" The god gave a little shake of his head. "It's simply unfair, how much Jack has to endure. It's so similar to my own situation at home…"

Mark, sensing that the topic was touchy, stopped cooking a moment and left the water to boil. "Do you… want to talk about it?"

Loki thought about it for a moment, staring down at the kitchen tile, before nodding. There was no harm in telling him a bit about himself, he supposed…

"My family lives in the palace. My mother, Frigga, is the queen, my father, Odin, the king, and my elder brother, Thor, the crown prince. When I was little, I would play Thor and his friends. We would play pretend; things like battle, and such. Sometimes we would play house, and Sif would always make herself the mother, and Thor the father. She always did like him." He let out a little chuckle, shaking his head. "But somewhere along the way, our friendship was lost. I suppose it might have had something to do with my decision to study magic; it was always considered a weak and womanly art. Thor and his friends, of course, spent years training in hand to hand combat, stopping only to jeer at me for not knowing as much as they. Make no mistake, I can fight well. I simply chose not to train with them.

I also decided to use my magic for my own entertainment. I would go around the palace, playing tricks on Thor and Father and Mother. Occasionally, I would direct my tricks on visiting nobles. They were absolutely disgusted, of course, that one of the princes would act so childish. They spread rumors of my rudeness and love for chaos, often exaggerating what I had done, and soon I was loved by nearly no one. Oftentimes, not even Thor supported me. He laughed with the rest of them, teased with the rest of them, and grew an ego the size of a celestial body. I was isolated, completely alone…"

Mark frowned and sat back. "I… I'm sorry." He spoke softly, putting his hands on his knees. "God, all 3 of us have been screwed over by life." He gave a humorless laugh and stood to start putting the ramen into the boiling water.

"I'm sorry for you. And for Jack. And I'm sorry you don't have the whole truth." Mark seized up. He knew the mythology, he had read on it through his childhood, he knew Loki was Frigga and Odin's adoptive son.

It wasn't his place to say anything, and he didn't want to.

Loki froze, eyes wide, before looking over at Mark.

"What do you mean?" He asked quietly. It wasn't possible for this mortal to know anything about him that he didn't… right?

"I don't mean anything." Mark said with finality. Suddenly there was a knocking at the door, and Jack was rushing down the stairs.

"Shit, stay very quiet." Jack hissed, watching the door fearfully.

Though Loki wanted to question Mark further, he did as Jack asked, knowing the person knocking at the door was likely Michael.

The knocking stopped. "Sean, open the door." Lola's voice filtered through the door, and Jack seized up.

"Sean, I have a key… it'll be easier if you just open the door." Michael's voice said, and Jack paled.

He cursed before starting toward the door.

Loki pushed himself away from the counter, moving to follow Jack to the door. He nodded for Mark to do the same, in case something went sour.

Jack opened the door slowly, and Michael went into the house. Lola went forward and spread her arms so that Loki and Mark stayed at edge of the room.

"Stay here." She commanded firmly as Michael kicked at Jack's legs and got him to the floor.

"No!" Mark yelled, trying to get past Lola, but she just shoved him forward directly into Loki.

Michael quickly undid his belt, rolled it, stomped one foot onto Jack's lower back, and hit him once with the belt. Jack gave a cry of pain and tried to get up before Michael stomped him to the floor and whipped him again.

Loki shoved Mark out of the way and pushed past Lola, utilizing his extra strength to do so. He couldn't stand this, this was too much. Jack didn't deserve this kind of treatment.

Before Michael could strike at Jack again, Loki grabbed his wrist.

"Stop." He demanded, his voice low, grim, and threatening.

Michael hesitated a moment, trying to deem which feeling was more prominent in his mind; fear of Loki or how much fun he was having tormenting Jack.

After a moment, he nodded towards Lola and used all his strength to push Loki off. Lola tackled Loki to the ground and jumped off hurriedly.

"Do it again, but hurry, we have to go." She hissed, kicking Mark in the stomach as he had gotten close.

Michael nodded and used his full strength to whip Jack's back before Lola opened the door and he ran out beside her.

Mark was up and too Jack first. "Jack, you ok?" He asked softly, wincing as he softly pulled Jack's shirt up and saw the welts and even some pinpricks of blood where Michael had hit at full strength. Jack was quietly sobbing to himself on the floor.

Loki scrambled up as quick as he could, but by the time he had reached his feet, they were gone. Cursing, he made his way as quickly as he could to Jack.

The wounds were no shock to the prince, not with the treatment Jack had been given. There was no change in his angry expression as he knelt down beside the man.

"Jack," he began softly, though there was no mistaking the outrage in his voice, "I am going to heal you. It may feel a bit strange at first, but I swear you will feel better when I finish."

Jack moved away a little, wiping his tears and wincing in pain. "W-will it drain your magic? I don't want you to use your magic on me if i-it will make you… tired." Jack tried. He didn't want Loki to waste his power on him when Loki was supposed to be resting.

"Only a little." The god promised. "Nothing I couldn't regain in an hour or so. Now, hold still. I want to be sure everything is healed entirely."

Jack wiped at his eyes again and grimaced as pain shot through his back again. "O-ok…" Jack conceded, saying it quietly.

Mark glanced at Loki a moment, worried for Jack. Loki might be able to heal Jack's back, but his mind was another story. And there were the other, older bruises and the new bruise where Michael had stomped him into the ground. "Do you have enough power for all of this?" Mark asked him quietly so Jack didn't hear.

"I have healed much worse with much less energy." Loki assured Mark with a little nod. Then, without another word, he rested a hand on a relatively untouched part of Jack's back. Little green sparks danced across his skin, healing any wound they came in contact with.

Jack shivered and glanced over at Loki. "Thank you…" He murmured softly, tears still leaking from his eyes.

He was shaking a little, but he managed to sit criss cross applesauce like when Loki had first arrived the day before.

"Thank you for making them leave early. If you hadn't been here, I would have been whipped way more than 3 times."

Mark seized up. "They- they've _whipped _you before?"

"With everything we've seen, does that truly surprise you?" The god inquired gravely, shifting so he could sit comfortably on the floor. It didn't surprise him, not in the slightest. After all, these kinds of things happened more often in Asgard than one might imagine.

Jack played back onto the ground, shirt still hiked up. "Mark, the food." He suddenly said, and Mark cursed before jumping up and running to the kitchen. He also grabbed his phone and texted Felix to get his ass down there now.

"I'm going to stay here for today, ok Jack?" Mark asked from the kitchen, though he made it clear with his tone of voice that he was staying no matter what.

Jack sighed and nodded. "Ok…" He then looked over at Loki. "You alright?"

"I am not the one anyone should worry over." Loki replied, shaking his head. "Are _you _alright? Mentally, I mean. Do you need to rest at all?"

"Probably, but I'm still pretty hungry. I'mma have another yogurt and lay down on the couch or something."

"Hell no, you're having your beef ramen, real food. Not yogurt, you need food." Mark told him. "But yeah, laying down on the couch will be good for you."

"He's right." Loki pointed out with a little nod. "You need a proper meal. You haven't had one as of yet. Eat, and then rest."

Jack sat up and gave a minute nod in response as Mark finished the ramen and set it at the coffee table in front of the TV.

"I… I don't think I can get up on my own…" Jack said, embarrassed, as he tried to stand but wobbled too much and fell back down.

Loki moved to help Jack stand.

"There's no need to be embarrassed." He assured the man gently.

Jack gave him a shaky smile and accepted the help.

Mark set out his and Loki's bowls of ramen on either side of Jack's so they would sit on either side of him. He grabbed the remote and sat on the left side of the couch.

Loki led Jack to the couch and helped him sit, taking his own seat in front of his own bowl. Though Mark had attempted to explain what the soup would taste like, he was still curious. It hadn't been a very in depth description, after all. He reached out and took his bowl off the table, stirring it a bit, before taking a tentative bite.

Mark dug in as Jack took a forkful of noodles and accepted the remote as he turned on Netflix. "Wanna watch How I Met Your Mother? Chef? House?" He asked.

"We should watch one of your videos." Mark laughed as he suggested. Jack laughed a little and shook his head.

"Why not?" Loki asked, raising an eyebrow. "You continue to mention them, but I haven't any idea what the content is."

"That's cause all it is, is me bring a stupid mother fucker screaming in front of a camera while I play video games."

Mark shook his head. "I-its more than that. He has touched the hearts of… how many now, 4.3 million people now? He's happiness in a 15 minute video or longer."

Jack shook his head again. "No, not that great."

"May I see one?" The god requested. He knew that Mark's claim was likely closer to the truth than Jack's; Jack didn't ever seem to see the good in himself.

"But… well, as long as we don't watch Huniepop…" Jack conceded.

Mark cheered a little as he was given the remote and Jack took the bowl from the table and leaned back.

Mark changed the app from Netflix to YouTube on Jack's Bluray Player and searched for Jacksepticeye. "Which one to watch? Valiant Hearts, Lord of the Aisle, My Future Self, maybe Cards Against Humanity, that one's with me, Felix, and Ken. Which would you rather, Loki?"

"If I am to be completely honest, I haven't any idea what any of those are." The god admitted with a little shrug.

"That's ok. Lets watch Cards-" Mark started. "Wha- the one labeled who is the worst person?! Let's watch Lord of the Aisle…" Jack said quietly.

Mark nodded and pressed the video.

"Top of the morning to ya laddies, MY name is Jacksepticeye, and welcome to LORD OF THE AISLE! This is, um, Willie from Happy Wheels, before he got put in the wheelchair. This is the story of how he broke his legs and got put in the wheelchair."

The Jack in the video looked down at his computer. "Not really, but this is a funny little game where you play as an old man with his walking cane thing."

Loki settled into his seat on the couch, watching the video with nothing but clear interest. On Asgard, no one really filmed themselves in any way for any reason, much less for the entertainment of others.

Jack glanced at Loki, still unsure how he felt about letting him watch the video.

"I forgot the name of what those things are. The-the helper walker thingymabobbers."

Jack blushed a little in embarrassment and ate his ramen.

"And you have to slam it down and get people out of your aisle," The video Jack switched to an old man voice. "Cause they're gonna steal your cranberries."

A little, amused smile made it's way onto the trickster's face as he watched, shifting so he sat pretzel legged, his bowl of ramen resting in his lap.

Jack blushed again in embarrassment at Loki's smile. Mark nudged him a little. "Hey, no need to be embarrassed."

"I love cranberries." Video Jack continued in his old man voice, before saying in his regular voice, "Click… FURIOUSLY to start!"

Jack gave a hummed groan at the video, hiding his red face in his knees after he put his nearly finished bowl of ramen back on the table.

Loki quickly finished off his meal, setting the bowl on the coffee table and glancing over at Jack. His little smile widened into a larger grin when he saw the man's embarrassment.

"I like it." He commented. "It's much different than any sort of entertainment available on Asgard."

Jack glanced up at Loki. "Really?" He heard Mark pause the video. He also heard…

Slam! "What happened, I came here as fast as I could, what the hell happened to Jack?!" Felix yelled urgently, dashing into the living room.

"Yes, of co-" Loki began to reply to Jack's question, but jumped when he was interrupted with the arrival of the last person staying at Jack's home. He had nearly forgotten about Felix…

Automatically Jack stopped blushing, pressing his face further into his knees as he was reminded of what happened.

"The, uh, remember Lola? She brought Michael and…" Mark bit his lip. "They, uh…" He glanced at Loki for help, at a loss for words, especially at Felix's frantic worried expression.

The jovial expression fell off the god's face as Mark struggled to find the right words, replaced with a hard, serious one.

"They beat him." He informed Felix, anger tinging his voice. "Michael kicked him down to the floor and whipped him, with a belt. After I attempted to stop them, they fled. I healed the physical wounds that were inflicted."

"They-they…" Felix blinked in shock, before his mouth snapped shut in anger. "Whipped him-they WHIPPED you?" Felix directed his question to Jack in disbelief.

Jack turned his face toward him but didn't turn his eyes up to Felix. "Y-yes…" Mark flinched a little and frowned.

"As I said before, both Mark and I attempted to stop them, but they managed to harm him before we could." Loki informed him, a bit grave.

Felix went down to his knees and leaned on the couch arm. "… Why did they…?"

"I disobeyed, I got what I deserved." Came Jack's flat voice, slightly muffled by his knees. Mark turned a horrified look at Jack. "What?! No, you didn't 'deserve' any of this!"

Loki turned to face Jack, a mix of shock and anger clear on his face and in his voice.

"You did _not _deserve this." He growled. "No one deserves something like this, especially when they've done nothing wrong. Disobeying those who abuse you so does _not _make you deserving of more abuse."

Jack glanced towards Loki before burying his face in his knees again. "But I-"

"Jack, you didn't deserve this. You never did. Please don't think that." Mark told him softly, hugging him before letting go.

Felix frowned deeply, anger flashing in his eyes.

Loki allowed a bit of the anger to seep out of both his voice and his expression before he spoke again, placing a reassuring hand on Jack's shoulder.

"You were right to disobey them." He began gently. "What they have conditioned you to do- to listen to every word they say, to do everything they demand and to accept punishment as though you deserve it if you don't- it's akin to turning you into a slave. You must attempt to see this, and perhaps attempt to fall out of this loop. It will be difficult, yes, but not impossible."

Jack rubbed at his eyes and trembled. "How, though? I can't even leave, I'm stuck here until July." Jack unfolded himself and sighed.

"What about family? Your sister, par-!" Mark slammed a hand onto Felix's mouth, shaking his head. Jack, however, inhaled sharply. "My parents? … Their dead. Besides, only my mother would care."

"Is that why in your videos you sometimes yell for your ma?" Felix asked when Mark's hand left his mouth, and Jack nodded in response.

"You can refuse their requests." Loki suggested. "I know, it is much easier to say that than do it, but it can be done. Refuse any requests Lola makes of you, and try your hardest to fight against Michael. Perhaps you should train?"

Jack shrugged limply and sighed. "You have to call Andrew and Julie." Mark reminded Jack gently, and the man inhaled sharply before jumping up and running up the stairs for his phone.

"Who're Julie and Andrew?" Felix asked curiously.

"Some more of Jack's friends." Loki supplied, leaning back to make himself comfortable on the couch again.

Felix nodded and went into the kitchen for some food. "When I leave I'm going to ask Jack to come with me to LA." Mark suddenly told Loki, a small smile on his face. He leaned back a little and gave a deep breath.

"That's kind of you." Loki replied with a little smile of his own. "I'm sure he will jump at the chance."

"Are you sure? I mean, I don't want him to stay here, but I'm not sure he'd come with me. I'd love if he came to live with me in my apartment but…" Mark sighed and groaned.

Felix suddenly came in and dropped down into the recliner chair in the corner with a plate of chocolate covered strawberries. "Hey, whatcha talking about?"

"Nothing of particular interest." Loki replied with a little, dismissive wave. "Where did you get those?" He gestured at the strawberries Felix was eating. "I don't recall seeing those here…"

"Found some chocolate so I melted it in the microwave and dipped some strawberries in it. It's amazing what you can create with random things around the house." Felix said.

Mark leaned back and rubbed a hand through his hair, causing it to floof up and get messy.

"Might I have one?" The god requested. He was still a bit hungry, though he had certainly expected to be. While the ramen had been tasty, it certainly hadn't filled him up very much.

Felix nodded and held the plate out for Loki to grab one. Mark leaned over and stole 2 of them before going back to his original spot.

Felix frowned a little before flashing Loki a smile.

Loki took one off the plate before leaning back into his seat, propping his feet up on the coffee table as he ate it.

Jack came rushing down the stairs in a hurry, waving at Loki, Mark, and Felix before rushing into the kitchen.

"What's wrong Jack?" Mark called.

"… Abigail." Came Jack's muffled reply.

"Shit." Both Mark and Felix cursed in unison.

Loki raised an eyebrow in confusion, glancing between Mark and Felix.

"Who is Abigail?" He inquired.

"Jack's ex girlfriend. She cheated on him… I don't see why, he's probably an amazing boyfriend…" Mark answered, a little bitterly.

"Why is she back?" Felix called to Jack.

"… Her girlfriend broke up with her and she says she wants me back." Jack answered in a mumble.

"What?!" Felix cried.

"N-no!" Mark added in a yell.

Loki's brow furrowed at that. He wasn't particularly familiar with the terms 'girlfriend' and 'boyfriend', but he could infer that they were names for a significant other.

"What are you thinking of telling her?" The god asked, his tone a bit slow and careful.

"I don't know…" Jack said, cracking open a beer can.

"Uh, no, you're not getting drunk, you're going to do something with Abigail that you'll regret if you get drunk!" Mark scolded, getting up and taking the drink.

He went into the kitchen and Jack whined, following.

"I wish they would just see…" Felix started, but instead sighed and just motioned to Jack trying to get the beer back and Mark holding it out of reach with a hand on Jack's chest to keep him back.

"Do you know what I'm talking about?" Felix asked Loki.

"I believe so." Loki replied with a little nod, his voice soft and slightly thoughtful. He was relatively sure he was beginning to see something that the pair was completely blind to, but he needed a bit more time to make sure he was seeing things correctly.

Felix glanced at Loki, but before he could say anything, Jack walked back into the room, pouting. "I wanted that beer…"

"That would have been a bad idea and you know it. Just please don't get back together with Abigail. Think about it." Mark pleaded, and Jack gave a sigh.

"It wouldn't be a good idea." Loki piped up. "If she has cheated on you in the past, there is a relatively high chance of her doing so again. That does not seem like a risk you would wish to take…"

"It's not, but I had been with Abigail for 3 and a half years before she cheated on me… And she was the angry one…" Jack crossed his arms loosely.

"Don't base your decision because you want it to go back to the way it was…" Felix said softly.

Mark frowned when a soft knock at the door resounded.

Loki glanced over in the direction of the door, curious. Was it Abigail, he wondered?

"Stay here." Mark told Jack, going over to the door.

Jack sat down on the couch next to Loki and shut his eyes

"He's not letting you get back together with her, and neither am I." Felix told him.

"But… She's the only one who wants to be with me. And…" Jack went silent.

"Is that why you're playing Huniepop?" Felix teased lightly. Jack picked up a pillow and threw it at him. "Shut up…"

Loki chuckled when Jack threw a pillow at Felix, but he quickly trained his face into a more serious expression.

"That may not necessarily be true." He pointed out. "Besides, you should not go back to someone simply because you feel they may be the only one to love you. That will spell nothing but disaster."

"Who else would want me…?" Jack asked dejectedly. Felix sighed and stood. "I'mma make you some chocolate strawberries." He said with a small smile before going into the kitchen.

Loki shifted in his seat, thinking for a moment.

"You mustn't assume that there is no one who wants you, Jack." He began tentatively. "There may be someone else for you much closer than you would think."

Felix nodded, sitting back down at the recliner chair. "This certain someone may not be of the female gender."

Jack furrowed his eyebrows. "Someone… Mark?" Jack drew out, obviously not believing this was the right answer.

Loki sent a sharp glare over at Felix. He had meant for his advice to stand alone. He bit his tongue, hoping to allow Jack to come to his own conclusion.

Felix held his hands up as if Loki had pointed a gun at him.

"No, that can't be right. Mark doesn't like me like that." Jack dismissed the idea, going back to thinking.

Felix pouted and opened his mouth as if to correct Jack.

Loki gave Felix another warning glare. Jack had to figure it out himself. Now that the idea was planted in his mind, perhaps he would look a bit closer at everyone around him. He would notice eventually…

Felix shut his mouth and crossed his arms, turning away.

"What's the matter with you?" Jack asked, and Felix shook his head violently.

"Ok, she's gone, and it's… 2 in the afternoon. Woah." Mark said, coming in and looking at the clock.

"The day certainly flies by, doesn't it?" Loki commented, leaning back and propping his feet up on the coffee table again.

Jack glanced at his feet uneasily a moment, looking like he was going to say something, but he decided against it.

"Loki, Jack doesn't like your feet on the table." Mark said suddenly.

"Mark!" Jack cried, before stopping. Had… Had Mark really noticed and was able to decipher how Jack felt about the coffee table? Jack stared at Mark with scrutinizing eyes, causing Felix to lean forward and Mark to furrow his eyebrows. "What?"

Loki blinked a few times, before taking his feet down off the coffee table.

"My apologies, I didn't mean to be rude."

"No, I wasn't going to say anything… I was right, Mark, huh?" Jack asked.

"What about me?"

"What do you think?" Loki retorted vaguely, the question directed towards Jack.

Jack hesitated, looking at Mark, who was getting a little squirmish, and to Loki.

"Well, I mean, the fangirls… And yeah, I ship us… But I mean…"

Mark suddenly blushed a little. "Wh-what? You're talking about… Us together? Why?"

"You missed the conversation, Mark." Loki chimed, a little smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Felix and I were simply giving him some sound advice. He came to this conclusion himself… or, very nearly by himself."

Mark blushed a little deeper as Jack swallowed. "The answer is Mark… I-I think I'm going to go upstairs for a little… Go record."

A look of hurt flashed on Mark's face as Jack ran past him up the stairs, until he heard, "Hey Mark, you coming with me?!" A smile set on Mark's lips as he turned and ran up the stairs.

"Well," Loki commented as he watched Mark dash up the staircase, "that was quite a bit easier than expected."

"They're not together yet. They'll talk while playing a game for 2 or 3 hours, than have an actual talk afterwards." Felix explained, standing. "I should go call my girlfriend Marzia. Get me when they get down?"

"Of course." He replied, setting his hands in his lap and beginning to think. It truly had been a strange few days. When he landed in Midgard, he didn't imagine the week spent here to be so… confusing. That was the only word for it, really. The last thing he expected was to make a friend out a mortal, much less three.

3 hours later, when it was nearing 5:30, Mark came down the stairs. "Loki, where are you?" He called curiously, frowning.

Loki, who had begun on dinner, replied with "Kitchen!", not looking up from the pan of vegetables he was working on sauteing.

Mark entered the kitchen and leaned on one of the counters, watching Loki as he worked. "… I… Thanks." He said softly, before straightening. "Hey, where did Felix go?"

"He said something about speaking with his girlfriend." Loki replied, pausing to remember if that was the right word. "Yes. I can't remember her name, but he told me he was going to speak with her."

" So, he's going to go gossip to Marzia." Mark rolled his eyes and huffed a little angrily.

He went silent again. " So, why did you make Jack figure out…?"

"_I _didn't make him figure anything out." Loki replied, glancing over at Mark. "I simply gave him a little push. Felix decided to give him a significantly larger push, make him think a bit more."

Mark went silent. "Jack is upstairs rendering all the footage. He'll probably be down in a half hour. I don't mean to rush you, but do you think dinner might be done at 6?"

"Yes, of course." The god replied with a nod. "I was nearly finished with this, and I already have the pasta cooking."

Mark nodded as Felix rushed into the room. " So, how'd it go?!" He asked excitedly, jumping up and down in excitement.

"Well…" Felix's face fell at Mark's sad tone, before Mark continued excitedly, "We're dating!"

"FUCK YEAH!"

"FELIX!" Jack's voice yelled from upstairs, and Felix flinched.

Loki chuckled a bit, pulling the perfectly sauteed vegetables off the warm burner and turning it off.

"Rather enthusiastic, Felix?" He asked as he made his way over to the fridge to grab the butter.

"I've been wanting them together ever since they met." Felix explained, and Mark gave him a blank look.

"Are you going to get Jack to leave here?" Felix asked quietly.

"… How?" Mark asked softly.

Loki glanced between Felix and Mark as he set the butter on the counter, moving over to the pot where the pasta was cooking.

"Were you not going to invite him to live with you?" He asked Mark, stirring the pasta.

"Who's to say he'll say yes? I mean…" Mark went silent and sighed before going into the other room.

"Poor Jack and Mark. I'm going to make some chocolate raspberries for them." Felix proclaimed, going to the fridge.

"Is chocolate your solution to everything?" Loki asked with a little laugh as he fished a noodle from the pot to test.

Felix nodded as he started to get the raspberries out and put a saucepan on the stove, next to Loki's pot.

"Chocolate is an amazing thing." He said, putting in chocolate chips to melt.

"That it is." He replied absently, before popping the noodle he had fished out into his mouth. His brow furrowed a bit, and he fished another one out with the spoon. "Felix, do you believe these are finished?" He asked, offering the spoon to the other.

Felix accepted the noodle and chewed a little. "It's a little stiff, it probably needs to go in for a minute or 2 longer." He answered, getting a wooden spoon to mix the chocolate.

Loki nodded and turned his attention back to the pot full of noodles, stirring them occasionally and allowing himself to zone out a little.

Jack ran down the stairs in a hurry. "I smell food and chocolate!" He chirped.

Mark glanced up from his spot on the couch. "Hey Jack, you done editing?" Jack nodded in response.

Loki checked the noodles again, deciding that this was much better, and Felix was right in telling him not to take it off the heat yet. He turned the heat to that burner off and realized that he had no idea if Jack even had a strainer or something like it.

"Jack, do you own a colander?" He called into the other room.

Jack froze is confusion, and so did Felix. "Er, I, what?"

"A strainer." Mark told him gently, and Jack hummed. "Ye, it's in the cupboard to the right of the stove, underneath. Be careful, when I do dishes I just shove the pots, pans, strainers, casserole dishes, and other stuff like that in there."

"But this saucepan wasn't in there…" Felix said in confusion as Jack relaxed next to Mark. "I never said my house was organized."

Loki nodded absently and made his way over to the cupboard, pulling out a strainer and setting it in one side of the sink. He grabbed the pot of pasta and drained the water from it, putting butter in the pot to let it begin melting before pouring the noodles back into the pot.

"Behind you." Felix muttered as he walked behind Loki and leaned to get the tongs.

"All my chocolate is going to be gone by the time you leave, Felix." Jack said idly as he searched through his games and Mark set up the XBOX 360.

"I wouldn't be surprised to learn that it already was." Loki snickered, working on finishing up dinner.

Felix pouted as he put the first raspberry into the chocolate. "Jeeze, I'll buy you more…"

"It's ok, Felix." Jack laughed, putting a game onto a stack and putting the next one back where it came from.

"You have so many cords, the BluRay, Wii, PlayStation 3 and 4, and now the XBOX 360…" Mark grumbled, following one of the wires to pull out the PlayStation 3. "You don't even need the BluRay with your PS3 and 4… Don't even need your PS3…"

Loki dumped the sauteed vegetables into the noodles, finishing up the dish with a few spices and a bit more butter.

"Dinner is finished!" He declared, washing off his hands.

Mark stopped what he was doing and pulled Jack to the table, ignoring his whining.

"Jack, where do you keep your plates?" Loki inquired. "And your silverware, where do you keep that?"

Jack exhaled slowly as he thought. "Um, in here," He said, opening a cupboard for the plates, bowls, and cups. "And here." He continued, pulling open a drawer with forks, spoons, and knives.

Mark went into the kitchen and pulled out 4 cups before putting them on the table and going to the fridge. "What do you guys want to drink?" He asked, looking at the juices, milks (white, vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry), liquor, and soda.

"I'll have a ginger ale." Jack answered. Felix put some more raspberries onto a plate. "Some vanilla milk." He said absentmindedly, before swiftly turning. "I-I mean chocolate!" Jack gave a playful glare to Felix. "The milk too?!" He said, not really angry. Felix laughed. "No chocolate in this house after I'm gone!"

"I thought you were into meatballs, not chocolate." Mark teased. "That's racist!" Felix cried indignantly. "So, what do you want to drink, Loki?" Mark asked, getting out the chocolate milk and ginger ale.

"Is there- ah… apple juice?" He asked as he pulled down the plates. "I would like apple juice." He pulled out the appropriate cutlery- just forks and knives- and set them out at places at the table, before beginning to dish portions of the pasta onto the plates.

Mark poured their drinks and some orange juice for himself. Felix turned down the heat on his saucepan and sat himself down, putting the plate of raspberries in the middle. Jack took one as he sat down, ignoring Felix's, "Hey! Wait until after we eat!"

Loki set the plates down in front of each seat, before settling into his own chair.

"I hope you enjoy it." He chimed. "I haven't cooked in quite a while."

Jack took one bite and gave a moan. "This food is amazing~!" Mark chuckled at him and nodded. "Yeah, it tastes really good." He agreed. Felix was wolfing the food down. "Fucking delicious…" Jack rolled his eyes a little at Felix's curse.

"Wonderful." Loki chimed with a little, thankful bow of his head, before starting on his own plate. He had done rather well, he thought.

Jack finished most of the bowl and swiped some more raspberries. "Stop!" Felix whined, taking the plate with a pout.

Mark laughed a little and hid his smile in his food as Jack gave him some raspberries. " Oh, these are good."

"If I had white chocolate, it would taste better." Felix mumbled. "Since everyone is just ignoring that these are for AFTER dinner, you want some, Loki?" Felix held the plate out for Loki.

Loki nodded, grabbing a few of the raspberries from the plate, but setting them to the side. He agreed with Felix; dessert was meant for after dinner, not during. One must eat their courses in order.

Jack stood and put his dish in the sink. "Anyone else done? I'm going to do the dishes."

"I can do the dishes for you Jack." Mark offered.

Loki quickly finished his food and stood to hand his plate to Jack.

"Here; I'm finished."

Jack accepted the plate as Mark got next to him and took his own and Felix's empty plate to the sink. "Was them together?"

Jack nodded in agreeance. " We want to show you video games, Loki." Felix told him with a cheeky smile.

"Perhaps you should explain what they are, before you attempt to show them to me." The god suggested, popping a chocolate covered raspberry into his mouth.

"Uh… Er… Let me look it up on Google…" Felix muttered, pulling out his phone.

The water running, plates clinking, and Jack and Mark making small talk was making to much for Felix to use text to speech, so it took him a little longer to look up.

Loki tapped his fingers on the table absentmindedly as he waited for the explanation. He found the little sounds- the plates clinking, the talking- calming, for they were so similar to the atmosphere of the castle that he nearly felt as though he was back home.

"A game played by electronically manipulating images produced by a computer program on a television screen or other display screen…" Felix raisefr both his eyebrows at the explanation.

"It's an electronic game that is played using a screen and a console." Jack tried.

"You have a controller and make your character in the game do things." Mark added.

"… We play video games for a living, you'd think that we'd be better at explaining them." Felix said flatly as Mark turned off the water and they went back to going through the games and setting up the XBOX 360.

"It sounds interesting, any way you explain it." Loki shrugged, standing and making his way to the living room.

" We have Super Smash Bros… We also have Super Street Fighter 4 and- oh no, I'm not playing that game!" Jack protested when Felix held up Mortal Kombat X with a teasing grin. "I'm terrible at it and you know it…" He added in a mumble. "Exactly." Felix said.

"Are they all battle games?" Loki inquired curiously, taking a seat on the couch. He noticed that each of the titles had something to to with fighting in them.

"Well, these 3 are. There's Spyro, Locoroco, Fable… Little Big Planet, Rayman Origins- what the, what IS this game? When did I get it?!"

"You got that for Christmas. Aww, it's adorable!" Mark squealed. " Oh Mark… So, which game do you want ta play, Loki?" Jack asked, twisting his upper body to look at Loki.

"You want _me _to play?" The god asked, eyebrows raised. "I haven't the slightest idea of how that controller works."

"Well, we can teach ya. I mean, we DO play video games for a living." Jack said with a shrug as Mark turned on 4 controllers and Felix discreetly put in Mortal Kombat X. Jack didn't notice.

"I suppose… which one are we playing, then?" Loki inquired, glancing around at the three.

"Uh…" Jack turned just as the Mortal Kombat X title screen appeared. "Fuck you, Felix!" Jack laughed, putting his hands on his face and falling backwards.

"I guess we're playing Mortal Kombat X." Mark said flatly, sitting on the floor beneath Loki.

"Mortal Kombat…" Loki repeated. "It _sounds _interesting."

"It sounds horrible! … But let's get on with it anyways." Jack sat up and started up the game. "Felix and I go first to show you?" He asked Loki.

Loki nodded and sat up a bit straighter, watching the screen attentively.

"You're going to be someone generic, aren't ya, like Scorpion?" Jack asked Felix, turning to look at him. They were both seated on the floor.

"Fuck you, I wasn't gonna be-!" They both dissolved into laughter. "So what if I wanna be som-!" Felix went into another laughing fit, bringing Jack into it with him.

They both picked Johnny Cage, and when the 2 characters put their hands up like cameras, Jack said in a slightly nasally voice, "Ooh, smile girlfriend~!"

"Wait, I change my mind!" Felix said, going back as Jack groaned, "God fucking damnit." and picking the daughter, Cassie Cage. "I'll be the daughter." Felix said as Jack leaned back and laughed. "Oh god! Don't do the X-ray cause then you end up punching me in the balls." He then grimaced and turned. "Sorry, Loki. We curse a lot. Out of all of us, Felix curses the most and Mark curses the least. Isn't that weird…"

"You needn't apologize." Loki assured Jack with a little shake of his head. "It amuses me more than anything."

"See, it's ok to cuss." Felix said, and Jack grimaced. "Ugh, Why do you say cuss? It sounds so weird."

"That's probably why you always say curse." Mark said, standing. "Where are you going?" Jack asked, both him and Felix turning to look at the oldest man. "To make popcorn. You want some?" Mark asked Loki.

"I suppose?" The god replied, though it sounded more like a question than anything. He honestly had no clue what popcorn was…

Mark chuckled and disappeared into the kitchen.

"Urgh, stop! I want to get a hit in!" Jack growled as Felix pummeled his character in.

Felix won the first round. "I was button mashing! I couldn't even- ugh, contrary to belief, I'm not good at games."

"Wha- I've seen you play games well!" Felix protested. "Ye, what games?" Jack asked, and Felix answered as if it were a question, "Kerbal?"

"Exactly."

Loki snickered a bit at their banter.

"This is much more amusing than I had thought." He chimed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Since he's terrible at it anyways, you wanna play against Jack next?" Felix asked as his character punched Jack's in the balls. "AGH! MY TESTICLES!"

Mark laughed, coming in with a huge bowl of popcorn. Both Jack and Felix immediately grabbed a handful. Mark held the bowl out to Loki.

"Perhaps I should watch one more match, before attempting." Loki decided, taking a handful of the popcorn he was offered and tentatively eating a piece. Surprise flitted across his face when he realized how tasty it was.

Mark smiled. "One of my moms taught me how to make popcorn really good." He said, sitting next to Loki.

"Ok! I'll be this girl." Felix chose one of the females, and Jack chose D'Vorah, the bug lady. "Ooh, we look fine~!" Jack laughed.

He nearly won the round, and the screen read 'Finish Her' as Felix whined. Jack quickly went through the moves list, not wanting to run out of time. He pressed out of the menu and pressed a few buttons, but his character just kicked Felix's.

"What was that?" Felix asked, and suddenly Jack dropped the controller. "FUCK IT, FUCK IT, I PRESSED THE RIGHT BUTTONS!" Felix laughed so much he was turning red in the face, and Mark turned his own away so Jack didn't see him laugh.

Loki laughed, barely hiding the action behind his hand.

"This is your career?" He asked Mark. "All three of you? I wish I could do something so entertaining."

"It's tiring. We have to record for hours on end and then edit and render the videos. We also have to upload at the right times, we have schedules." Mark explained.

"And we have to YELL." Jack explained as the character screen came up and Felix held out a controller to Loki.

Loki took the controller, observing it carefully as he tried to figure out the controls before the game began. It was a bit complex, but he was sure he could figure it out. Copying what Jack and Felix had done originally, he moved the joystick around until he found a character he liked.

"Still, it sounds much more fun than my career path."

"What's your career path?" Mark asked curiously. Jack looked over at them after he chose Jade.

"I am a prince." Loki replied simply. "I was born to be a prince, I have trained since childhood to be a prince, and I will very likely die as a prince. Of course, the duties are quite a bit more complicated than one may expect…"

Jack nodded, and Mark went back to eating the popcorn. Felix slid quickly backwards so his back was pressed to the couch. "Sounds hard." He commented. He also had a twinkle in his eyes that said he really wanted Loki to start the game.

Loki finished selecting his character and settled comfortably in his seat, ready to begin. With luck, he could figure the controls out soon enough that he would at least lose with dignity…

"Ready to begin?" He chimed.

Jack shrugged and nodded. "Ready as I'll ever be!" He chose random setting and started the game. Felix poked his shoulder, causing Jack to give him a look, not paying attention to the screen.

Loki glanced from the screen to his controller, attempting to remember which buttons Felix had pressed and such. Eventually, he just settled with pressing each of the four colored buttons at random and in quick succession; that seemed to work just as well as whatever Felix had been doing before.

"NO YOU GOT THE FIRST HIT IN!" Jack complained, smacking Felix's shoulder lightly. Felix just laughed. Jack tried to get his character to fight but Loki's kept hitting his. 'FINISH HER' in red text filled the screen.

Felix automatically went up and explained to Loki how to quickly use the finishing move; left trigger and the blue X button.

A grin spread across the god's face as his character beat Jack's down, and he was quick to follow Felix's instruction with the finishing move. He let out a little, victorious laugh.

"I won!" He declared.

Jack groaned and dropped the controller, falling backwards. "Can we change the game?" He asked. Mark nodded while Felix whined. "We should actually be windin down, not getting riled up." Mark said to Felix.

"Yes, what other games did you say you owned?" Loki inquired, setting his controller beside him on the couch.

"Let's play Mr. Crab!" Felix suggested. "I don't have that. Wanna play Mario Cart?" Jack asked. Mark shrugged. "Sure." He said, putting the game in.

"We can all play at the same time! I'll turn on the controllers~!" Felix hummed. "I CALL BABY MARIO!" Jack yelled. "Goddamnit!" Felix cursed, angry.

"What is Mario Cart?" Loki asked, hating that he didn't know so much.

"Its a cute little racing game that I grew up with. The old versions, anyway. Jack has the new one." Mark explained.

"Might be because he didn't have internet until he was 16." Felix said, poking Jack. "Stop that!" He snapped, causing Felix to giggle.

"A racing game…" Loki repeated, almost absent-mindedly. The mention of a race reminded him of the races he had always conducted against Thor and Thor's friends, and a fond little smile tugged at the corners of his lips. "That sounds wonderful."

"Cool! I'll teach you how to play!" Felix said, jumping up next to Loki on the couch. Mark and Jack sat together on the floor, Mark staring at Jack's arse as he went on his hands and knees to mess with the volume and Xbox 360. Felix chuckled at them and started teaching Loki how to play.

Loki listened attentively as the controls were explained, noting that this game seemed much more difficult than the last, but he was confident that he could get it by the beginning of the game.

Jack sat back down and made an oof sound. Mark laughed and pulled him close. "That was adorable~!" Jack huffed. "'m not adorable…" He mumbled as the game started and Jack fixed the settings. "Alright, everyone press start!" Jack said excitedly.

Loki pressed the button, sitting pretzel-legged and running through the controls in his head.

Jack chose a setting and the game started. "Gah! I PRESSED IIT EARLY!" Mark complained, and Jack snickered, in Mark's lap. Mark's arms surrounded Jack, his hands holding his controller.

Felix gave an aww sound and boosted his character, Baby Luigi. Mark had chosen Baby Daisy.

Loki had picked Yoshi, and he was very close to being in last place. He was beginning to get a bit frustrated; he hadn't yet fully grasped which button did what.

"YES! YES, I WIN, I WON!" Mark cheered, and Jack shrunk a little in his lap. "… My ear was right next to your…."

"Sorry, sorry." Mark murmured, kissing his head. Jack got 2nd place and Felix got 4th.

Loki ended up in seventh place, pouting.

"I'm not sure if I like this game quite as much as the last." He declared.

Jack scowled. "I hate that game…" Felix went close without Jack seeing and yelled, "WITH A BURNING PASSION!"

Jack shot in out of Mark's arms with a shriek. For a moment he just stared at Felix, until he glared and started yelling curses at him. Felix was dying of laughter on the floor.

The pout on the god's face was quickly replaced with a wide grin, and he let out a loud laugh as well.

"Do you hate it because you can never win?" He asked Jack, his grin reduced to an amused smirk.

Jack sniffed. "I win sometimes. I just can never get the cool finishing move. And it's super awful. I mean, Cassie's Xray move… Blegh." Jack shivered.

"It's starting to get late. Maybe we should get to bed." Mark suggested. Jack shook his head. "Too many things to do. I have to edit, record, answer comments…"

"I'm beginning to feel a bit tired." Loki chimed, setting his controller to the side and getting up from the couch with a little yawn. "All of you do as you wish, but I believe it is time for me to retire."

"Me too. I'm going to bed." Felix stated, standing. Jack leaned forward and turned off th XBOX. Mark nodded, standing as well. "I gotta upload a video. Can I borrow the laptop? I have a flash drive." Mark asked, and Jack nodded.

Felix went up the stairs to bed. Mark went to the laptop and Jack stood, smiling at Loki. "I hope you don't mind me recording. I may yell a little. I'll try to be quiet."

"No, I don't mind." Loki assured Jack with a little wave. "I've slept through much louder, I'm sure. Good night." With that, he made his way up to his designated room.

Jack smiled and went upstairs to the recording room. Mark finished up with the laptop and made his way into the recording room. They ended up doing a collab and admitting that they were dating.

Felix was dressed in his pyjamas, when Loki got to the top of the stairs. "I'm worried about what will happen tomorrow." He admitted.

"What do you mean?" The god asked, brow furrowed just a bit.

"Some people found out I was Jack's friend and I got glared at all over town. Imagine what they'll do if they find out Mark is Jack's lover…"

"If they try anything, we will simply have to defend them." Loki replied decisively. "Jack deserves to be happy, they both do."

Felix nodded with a small smile. He took a deep breath. "Well, I'm going to bed. See you in the morning?"

"Goodnight." Loki gave a little, respectful bow of his head, before making his way to his bedroom.

**End Day 2.**

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**Thank you guys for reading this chapter, if you LIKED it, punch that follow/favorite/review button IIIN the face, LIKE A BOSS! And, high fives all around~! Wpsh, wpsh! Well, thank you guys, and I will see all you DUU~UUDEE~S, IN THE NEXT CHAPTER!**


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